


Fallin' For You

by windygillespie



Category: Gøøns (Podcast), Julie and The Phantoms (TV) RPF, The Misfits (Podcast), Traphouse - Fandom, Why Don't We (Band), Youtubers, the content hub
Genre: Anxiety, Gaming, Internet Friends, M/M, YouTube, YouTuber Zach Herron
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 27,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27797791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windygillespie/pseuds/windygillespie
Summary: in which Why Don't We meets YouTube-AU: 2020!No CoronaTW: Mental Health, Mentions of Self-HarmALSO ON WATTPAD (@EXPRESSYOURSELFLIFE)
Relationships: Zach Herron & Pezzy
Comments: 16
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chxrryholland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chxrryholland/gifts).



**_tuxy_** 🐠 _added unknown number to_ ** _lego starwars and candles_**

 ** _scar_** 🐙 ** _:_** _PEZZY_  
 _you bitch answer_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: yeah fuck you_  
 _you're so rude_  
 _this is why i bully you_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: pezzyyy_ 👅👅  
 _c'mon_

**_unknown number_ ** _: i'm sorry i think you have the wrong number_   
_i'm not... pezzy?_

**_simple_** 🐵 _: tuxy i'm going to kick your ass_

 ** _jesse_** 🦑 _: fuck we've been invaded_  
 _is he chill_  
 _shit is it a she_

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: stop your panicking_  
 _what the fuck is gender your_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: english sweatie_

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: fuck you_

**_unknown number_ ** _: um. male?_   
_why am i even answering y'all-_

**_tuxy_** 🐠 _: because we're cool_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: shut up tuxy you added the wrong number_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: someone get pezzy's fUCKING NUMBER ALREADY_

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 _: what have you guys done_  
 _it's (###)###-####_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _added (###)###-#### to_ ** _lego starwars and candles_**

 ** _unknown number_** _: ah my number neighbor_ 🤩  
 _i'm zach btw_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: scarlet. don't mind these losers._

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: y'know duck you_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: hahaha duck you_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: shut up_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: shut up_

**_maybe: zach_ ** _: so uh. should i just leave or.._

**_grizzy_** 🐻 _: i mean_

 ** _droid_** 🐍 _: dude seems chill_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: i say let him stay_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: what the fuck guys_  
 _did you really put in the wrong number_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: he's nicer than you pEZZY_

**_zach:_ ** _cant really say i mind. i'm bored out of my mind over here_   
_mostly because it's 1am_

**_scar_** 🐙 _: nice you're pacific time?_  
 _i live in la, so does tuxy, jesse, pezzy, and grizzy._

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 ** _:_** _damn thx for leaking my location_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: la is huge idiot_

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 _: if i get murdered at least let me have a good last meal first_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: eh you could kill me. i'm partial to either way_

**_zach_ ** _: huh i live in la too_   
_and i'm not going to murder you aha_   
_that's too much work. murdering five randoms_

**_wozenz_** 🐊 _: currently very glad that me, chromez, and simple don't live in the us_ 🤩🤩  
 _y'all won't find us_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: you wanna fucking try me?_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: shes tall and weirdly strong don't get on her bad side_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: scar doesn't HAVE a bad side_  
 _it's illegal_  
 _(tall mf lookin ass)_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _:_ 🖕🏻

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: lyt_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: you're so single pezzy_  
 _you just say ily to everyone_ 🤩

 ** _zach_** _: god i felt that. i constantly get teased for being single in my group_ 🤩 _i'm the only one w/o a gf_

 ** _simple_** 🐵 _: you're in luck, we're all single_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: i think you're forgetting that scarlet is the only girl_

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: is he straight_  
 _are you straight stranger?_

**_zach:_ ** **** _wtf_

**_tuxy_** 🐠 _: damn_  
 _i was looking for a man_ 👀

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: wbk honey_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: tuxy you're so single but so fUCKING STRAIGHT_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: shhhhh_

**_zach_ ** _: i have just come to the realization that y'all could be creepy old men looking for pics of me to get off to_

**_droid_** 🐍 _: bruh are you underage_

 ** _simple_** 🐵 _: aBORT_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _:_ 👀

 ** _zach_** _: no lmao but still. don't feel like getting_ ✨ _stalked_ ✨

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: do we lowkey act like pedos tho_

**_zach_ ** _: yeah you're right_   
_y'all are chill_   
_so you guys live around the world?_

**_chromey_** 🐢 _: you already know that scar, pezzy, grizzy, jesse, and tuxy live in la. me, simple, and wozenz live in europe, while geoff, ash, and droid live down south spread out_

**_zach_ ** _: aight thats not too bad_   
_uhhh how do y'all know each other_   
_because you guys don't live near one another so it's not like you all met irl at the same time (did you)_

**_scar_** 🐙 _: we all do youtube_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: and twitch_  
 _follow me twitch.tv/ashdog_

**_zach_ ** _: oh nice_

**_tuxy_** 🐠 _: are you boring like a dentist or something or are you something fUN_

**_zach_ ** _: uh- i'm in a band?_

**_chromey_** 🐢 _: nice_  
 _what's it called_

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: let's get that clout boys_ 🤩🤩🤩

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _:_ 👅👅👅

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: calm dOWN tuxy_

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 _: look who's finally decided to fucking show up_

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: i'm sorry that i actually have a life nELSON_

 ** _zach_** _:_ 👀  
 _imma let y'all figure the name out for yourself :)_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: i'm too lazy for this shit_

**_zach_ ** _: too bad :)_

**_scar_** 🐙 _: so does this mean you're staying?_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: i'm still hoping he's gonna murder me_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: stay_ 👅

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: you're chill_

 ** _simple_** 🐵 _: yeah stay my man_

**_zach_ ** _: hm_   
_okay :)_

**_ash_** 😤 _: oh god_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: does this mean we're official_ 🥺

**_zach_ ** _: sure_


	2. Chapter 2

**_zach_ ** _: so are all of you guys youtubers?_

**_geoff_** 🎈 _: yeah_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: yeah_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: we're all irrelevant :)_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: that's true_  
 _i don't even post on youtube tho_  
 _i'm just in their videos most of the time or i'll stream_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: hEy_  
 _iM nOt IrReLeVaNt_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: yes you are_

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: pretty much everyone here is irrelevant except for grizzy with his almost 1mil type things_

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 _: no need to call me out but ok_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: hey new kid_

**_zach_ ** _: ???_

**_chromey_** 🐢 _: didn't you say you were in a band_

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 _: oOh iS iT a BoY baNd_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: bOy BaNd_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: bOy BaND_

**_zach_ ** _: *sweats*_   
_maybe-_

**_grizzy_** 🐻 _: bOY BAND_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: HES A BOY BAND KID_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: what are you, justin beiber?_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: justin beiber isn't- okay_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: shut up_  
 _you know what i mean_

**_zach_ ** _: people say i look like jacob sartorius so_

**_ash_** 😤 _: SEE_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: no._

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: aren't i the one that should be bullying you_

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: oh how the tables have turned_

**_zach_ ** _: hey will you sHUT THE FUCK UP_   
_PLEASE_   
_or imma come and smash your guitar over your head_   
_:))))))_

**_grizzy_** 🐻 _: i don't think this was meant for us but please do_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: yes please_ 👅

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: shut up tuxy_

**_zach_ ** _: fuck_

**_pezzy_** 🔫 _: big words for a man who looks like jacob sartorius_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _:_ 👀

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _:_ 👀

**_zach_ ** _: ok you're gonna get it now_

**_pezzy_** 🔫 _: oh you wanna fight?_

**_zach_ ** _: yes_

**_pezzy_** 🔫 _: fine. u suck_

**_zach_ ** _: no u_

**_pezzy_** 🔫 _: ok_

**_zach_ ** _: ok_

**_wozenz_** 🐊 _: was... was that the fight?_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: i think pezzy just found his soulmate_

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 _: oh my god he did_  
 _dUDE_  
 _we're so fucked now_

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: there's two of them-_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: oh we're fucked_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 _: :D_

**_zach_ ** _: :D_

**_tuxy_** 🐠 _: does this mean you're leaving me D:_

 ** _zach_** _:_ 👀

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: t e a_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 ** _:_** 🐸

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 _: tuxy you're so single_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: im so lONELY_

 ** _ash_** 😤 _: we know_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: you guys all have gIRLFRIENDS_  
 _well scarlet has a bf but we don't talk about him_

 ** _scar_** 🐙 _: hey-_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: no like- ash and grizzy have gf's evEN GEOFF HAS A GF_

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: what is that supposed to mean_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: your 11 year old ass hAS A GF HOW_

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: i got more game than you apparently_

**_zach_ ** _: every single one of my bandmates has a_ _gf_ _and it's so depressing. my bisexual ass is just pINING over here._

**_ash_** 😤 _: f_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: oh nice_

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 _: imagine being comfortable with your sexuality i could never_ 🤩

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: ay pezzy where did you gO_  
 _pEzZzZy_

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: he dipped_ 👀  
 _i think everyone in this chat is straight but honestly who knows_  
 _we say so much gay shit that our fans think we aren't anywhere NEAR straight_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: preach_  
 _do your fans know about you being bi?_

**_zach_ ** _: uh no aha. only my bandmates know. not even mi familia._

**_tuxy_** 🐠 _: oh damn_

 ** _chromey_** 🐢 _: uh thank you for trusting us man_

**_zach_ ** _: yeah well even if you do out me i can always deny it or own it_   
_i'll decide in the moment_

**_wozenz_** 🐊 _: nah you're in the gang now_

 ** _tuxy_** 🐠 _: mhmmm_

 ** _geoff_** 🎈 _: welcome to our cult_  
 _you got discord?_

**_zach_ ** _: chubs#1830_   
_jesus y'all are fast_   
_i just got 7 requests_

**_chromey_** 🐢 _: it might take a while for some to warm_  
 _up to you because you're new and a stranger_  
 _but fuck it let's do this. get in the private server._

**_zach_ ** _: feisty_

**_tuxy_** 🐠 _: you know it ;)_

**_zach_ ** _: ;)_


	3. Chapter 3

**_three (3) new messages_**  
**_chromey_** 🐢 ** _:_** _hey man_  
_the boys and I are going to go on discord if you wanna join and meet everyone for real_  
_don't feel pressured (no recording, just 21 questions if you're down)_

_——_

**_Zach_ ** _: gimme a half hour? w my bandmates at dinner_

**_chromey_** 🐢 _: see you soon_

_——_

"Who are you texting?" Jack curiously peered over Zach's shoulder, looking at where the answered message previously was.

"Oh, he's a new friend I met. I was accidentally added to a group chat with him and like... twelve other people." Zach showed him a few of the chats between the group, watching as Jack looked on with interest. "They're all really chill and I'm getting a good vibe from them. We're gonna video chat on discord tonight apparently."

"Be careful man, you never know what type of weirdos are out there." Jack hit Zach's shoulder lightly, softly smiling.

"I know, Jay. Besides, it's not like my face isn't already out there for the world's craziest to see. We were on a billboard in times square for christ's sake."

"That was pretty awesome, wasn't it?"

"Hell yeah."

——

"Hey! The new kid is online." Chromez saw the small green "online" icon next to "chubs" and pointed it out to the rest. The rest being Grizzy, Jesse, Wozenz, and Pezzy.

A soft sound effect came through the headphones, indicating someone else had joined the private voice channel.

"Hello?" The voice was higher than they expected, with a hint of softness lingering somewhere in there.

"Holy shit he is a kid." Grizzy managed to get out between his laughs. No camera was on, so they couldn't see who exactly was talking, but it was funny enough.

"Hey! I'm 19!" At that, Grizzy spat out his water, shooting straight up in his chair.

"How am I the same age as _you_?"

"Okay, Grizzy. Quit bullying the newbie. He won't wanna stay." Chromez defending Zach, but also trying not to laugh.

A light huff came from Zach, and Chromez could almost picture him crossing his arms with a pout. "Hey, kid. Are you comfortable enough to show your camera? I wanna see if I can recognize you."

The call was silent for a minute and everyone spotlighted Zach's profile, waiting for it to come on. When the panda profile picture went away and a late teenaged kid appeared, everyone was practically mind blown.

"Holy shit." Zach raised his eyebrows, running his fingers through his dark messy hair at Grizzy's comment.

"Am I what you expected?"

"You were on Ellen last night!" No one expected _that,_ not even Zach. Everyone's voices began to overlap and they were freaking out. Ellen? _Ellen_?

A loud whistle from Chromez caused the call to go silent.

Jesse spoke up, studying the boy carefully. "You're in that band called Why Don't We, right?" Zach laughed and hung his head, smiling shyly.

"Yeah. We performed our newest single on Ellen last night."

"Dude, Dooo is going to be so jealous."

——

After 21 questions had finished, Zach had learned quite a few things about the small group he was currently talking to.

-Pezzy, Jesse, Grizzy, Jaz (his girlfriend), and Tuxy all live in a large apartment together. Scarlet lives alone in an apartment in the same complex. Wozenz lives in Denmark, Chromez in Poland, and Simple in the Netherlands. Geoff lives in Oklahoma, Ash in Arizona, and Droid in Texas.

-Jesse is 18, Wozenz and Grizzy are 19, same as Zach, Chromez is 21 and Pezzy is 24 (Old man, as Grizzy likes to call him).

-They all met last year at PAX in Maryland, which was the best time of their life.

Jesse was currently dressed up in a... Zach didn't even know what to call it to be exact. In simplest terms, it looked as if he was being given a piggyback ride from a gnome. Zach wasn't sure what to make of it, but it was funny as hell anyway.

As the call grew quiet, although not awkward, Zach had pulled out his guitar and a notebook, opening up to a random page.

A few words had been crossed out, but the tone of the song was still there. Zach was slowly falling back into that headspace of peace, almost inside the music. 

It was such a unique feeling. Everything around you would just fade away until it was you, the instrument, and the music. Every word he sang, every note he played, would visualize in front of Zach, before composing itself into a song of his making.

He plucked a few strings, lips pursed as he hummed a melody, not realizing that he had caught the attention of the five YouTubers in the call. The few notes of the song had immediately captivated them.

Mindlessly, Zach managed to write a few words down on the paper, in a somewhat elegant font, although still had the appeal of chicken scratch.

"Help me... overwhelmed... in my mind? Heart? No, that doesn't sound..." He trailed off, dropping his pencil, as he froze up.

"Kid?"

"Man, you good?"

Zach didn't respond as he shot up from his chair, digging from underneath his mattress to pull out another notebook, this one much more worn and ragged than the first.

"In my blood. Holy shit."

"Zach!" The brunet's head shot up, obviously having forgotten about the fact that he was currently on a video call with five random guys from around the world. "Are you okay? You zone out or something?" Chromez appeared concerned, just looking at the young boy who looked as if he was a deer in headlights.

"Yeah... yeah. I'm alright. I'm sorry... songwriting does that to me sometimes."

"Can we hear a little more?" Jesse spoke up, taking straight shots from whatever bottle of alcohol he had on his desk.

"Oh. Um... alright. Keep in mind this is a really rough draft so if y'all don't like it then well..." Zach trailed off sheepishly.

"Just play."

The opening few notes brought a wave of melancholy over the group, and they were even more surprised when a mature voice, one they would have never expected from Zach, began to sing.

"Help me, it's like the walls are caving in  
Sometimes I feel like lettin' go  
But I just can't  
It isn't in my blood" 

The song was slow and sad, but open, and it was beautiful like that. It was _raw_.

"Sitting on the bathroom floor, feeling numb.  
I'm overwhelmed and insecure, give me something  
I could take to ease my mind awake  
Just have a drink and you'll feel better  
Just take her home and you'll feel better  
Keep saying that it gets better  
Will it ever?" 

Zach let out a heavy sigh, doing his best to blink away the tears that had formed in his eyes. He had written some of that song when he was younger and going through a rough spot, attempting to figure out his sexuality. And being a bisexual teenager in Texas in 2014 was not the best situation.

"Holy shit." Grizzy looked as if he was in shock. Chromez and Pezzy were concerned and Jesse and Wozenz were completely mindblown. None of them even knew how to react.

Zach looked down, cheeks flaring up. "That probably wasn't what you were expecting..."

"Dude that was crazy, what the fuck. I think you got me sober." Jesse was somehow completely coherent currently, a shock to everyone.

"That's insane. How do you sound like that?" Pezzy's jaw was practically on the ground.

"I wanna see you guys in concert now."

"Imagine how they'd all sound together. Do you all sound like that?" Wozenz had stopped eating his pizza, looking at the camera.

"They all have amazing voices, much better than mine. Jonah's the oldest, at 22. He can probably go the lowest out of all of us, and he's the smooth-talking romantic out of everyone. Corbyn is 21, and he tends to sing higher, close to a falsetto. Daniel has this insane voice too. He can hit all these crazy high notes live in In Too Deep and he can play about 22 instruments. He's also 21. And finally, Jack. Jack is my best friend and he's crazy. He can do all these incredible runs that blow everyone away. They're all amazing. I doubt my voice could even come close to theirs."

Zach smiled, looking down at his guitar.

"Don't put yourself down, kid. You're crazy good. Like one of the best, maybe _the best_ , that I've ever heard." Chromez smiled at the younger, still having a bad underlying feeling about the boy. Not that he was dangerous, just that something was... wrong.

And boy would he figure it out. Even if it was the last thing he did.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCORD**

**{the boys, #general}**

**simple robinson** kid is this you??? **chubs  
**

**chubs** 👀  
maybe

 **playdeadbro** bro which one-

 **grizzy** jesse you were there LAST NIGHT when we saw his FACE

 **playdeadbro** i was also gone after that first drink my man  
i don't remember anything except for that last song

 **thedooo** :o  
another musician? finally man.

 **chubs** i feel so out of place i don't know anyone lmao

 **simple robinson** you sang last right

 **grizzy** those vocals 👅

 **chubs** yeah aha  
and ty :)

 **thedooo** my mAN those are some sweet high notes right there

 **chubs** thank you man  
i love your version of fly me to the moon

 **thedooo** :D

 **grizzy** alright stop flirting

 **chubs** so everyone here has met each other before irl?

 **simple robinson** once

 **thedooo** no

 **grizzy** a few times

 **playdeadbro** pax was fuckin lit

 **chubs** whats pax

 **thedooo** non gamer alert

 **grizzy** weeb convention with gamers

 **chubs** makes sense  
i feel like youtube would be fun but hard

 **grizzy** bruh it is but  
it's sO worth it  
you should do it

 **playdeadbro** yeahhh discord content boys  
you play siege?

 **chubs** my manager would have tons of conditions if i did though  
and yeah, when i have time and am bored  
god now i wanna do it

 **simple robinson** do it you won't

 **grizzy** d o i t

 **thedooo** we can fuck w ppl on omegle together

 **chubs** oh?

 **thedooo** :)

 **chubs** my bandmates are out all day with their GiRlFrIeNdS so im lonely :D  
i don't know many other people in LA despite being here for the past three fucking years

 **grizzy** you wanna meet the boys?

 **playdeadbro** 👀

 **simple robinson** c'mon man now i'm lonely

 **grizzy** get a pizza

 **thedooo** imma start my omegle video  
see yall losers later

 **chubs** what does that mean **grizzy**

 **grizzy** it means: do you want to meet us :)

 **playdeadbro** i have no life so i'm down

 **chubs** yeah sure man.  
gimme a place and i'll be there

 **playdeadbro** ooh can we go to that yummy cafe we went to during the summer

 **grizzy** the berry cafe thing

 **playdeadbro** yeah that one. huckleberry cafe i think

 **chubs** that's in santa monica, right?

 **grizzy** yeah  
i'll gather up the boys  
see you around 11ish?

 **chubs** sure  
see you soon i guess

\----

**_palm trees_ **

_scarlet russo  
grizzy  
jesse presser  
pezzy  
tuxy_

_**grizzy** :wake up fuckers  
jesse and i are meeting zach  
who's down_

_**jesse presser** : ayyy_

_**pezzy** : fuck you  
_ _and sure  
_ _where_

_**tuxy** : my manz 👅_

_**grizzy** : huckleberry cafe, santa monica_

_**scarlet russo** : i have better things to do_

_**jesse presser** : jeez bitch alright_

_**grizzy** : just stop being an asshole for once please_

_**scarlet russo** : whatever_


	5. Chapter 5

Zach had gotten a large circular booth towards the back of the cafe, having gotten there early. He didn't see Jesse, Pezzy, or Grizzy, and he didn't know what Tuxy or Scarlet looked like.

While waiting, he ordered himself an Earl Grey tea and a chocolate chip muffin, almost moaning at the wonderful taste. It was sweet with a hint of tang and a plethora of flavors had just exploded in his mouth. It paired quite nicely with his hot drink.

It was a cold day, at least for California. Zach had on black slacks with a large tye die green sweatshirt that dropped off his shoulders, making him look smaller than he was.

The bell above the door jingled a bright song as the glass door was pushed open and four guys walked in. 

Grizzy was in the middle, hair messy and wearing sweatpants and a Champion sweatshirt, scrolling through his phone. He was the shortest in the group, teetering on 5'6".

Pezzy was right behind him, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with a random picture printed on it. His hair was swooshed in its "Justin Beiber" type of style. The brunet was thin and bony, looking as if he barely ate, but contrary to popular belief, he ate a hell of a lot of food.

Jesse was wearing a striped button-down shirt, paired with a pair of black slacks and a couple of chains, as well as his multitude of piercings on his ears and eyebrow. He was 5'8" and slightly built, as though he worked out at the gym sometimes. He easily had the most fashion sense out of the whole group.

The unknown Asian, who Zach could only guess was Tuxy, was wearing a loose grey sweatshirt with black jeans and circular glasses. He was the tallest of the group, but not by much. He was only an inch taller than Pezzy at 5'10".

The only person missing from the group was Scarlet, but Zach didn't mind all that much. Out of everyone in the group chat, he had connected the least with her over the past couple of days. Zach was about to call out for them when he saw Grizzy meet his eyes, moving the group over to where he sat.

Jesse slid into the booth, moving all the way to where Zach was, followed by Grizzy, Pezzy, and Tuxy respectively. 

"How are you doing man? It's nice to meet you in person." Tuxy shook Zach's hand from over the round table, a wide smile on his face.

"Yeah, you too." Zach shook everyone else's hands politely, their introductions momentarily interrupted by a waitress coming to serve them. They all had ordered some type of breakfast and coffee although Pezzy got hot tea.

"Tell us a bit more about yourself, Zach."

"Well... I'm 19 and I was born and raised in Dallas. I have a younger brother and a younger sister. I moved to LA with Jack, Daniel, Corbyn, and Jonah when I was 15, they were 17 and 18 to form our band."

"15? Jesus Christ, your parents let you do that?" Tuxy questioned, obviously shocked.

"How did you guys know each other?"

"Daniel and Jack met when they both tried out for American Idol; Daniel made it in but Jack didn't. He made it to the Top 9 when he was just 15." A couple of whistles filled the air, the group clearly impressed. "Everyone really just hit each other up because they were all doing YouNow lives and other stuff like that. They contacted me when they saw a video I did of an original song on YouTube. It had gotten ten million views in a week."

Silence. Absolute silence.

"I'm sorry, did you say-"

Zach nodded, his cheeks turning splotchy red from embarrassment.

"That's insane."

"Wait... you're the Stitches kid!" Everyone's heads shot to Jesse's, including Zach's.

"You've seen that video?"

"Hell yeah, I've seen it. You went viral, how could I not? You were really good." Zach ducked his head down, smiling shyly, not used to getting attention like this from people who didn't know him from the band.

"Thanks, man. So tell me a little about yourselves and if you don't mind, everyone else?" The group agreed and began talking, each giving a little backstory about everyone from the people in the group chat to The Goons to Misfits.

"What exactly made you go into music?" Tuxy seemed the most down to earth out of the entire group at the moment.

"I don't really know. I had always felt comfortable performing and being in front of a camera and I've also been singing since I was a little baby." He smiled, leaning back into the booth.

"Do you know if you wanna start doing YouTube?" That was Grizzy's question and everyone had turned to look at Zach, curious as to what his answer would be.

"I mean..." Zach bit his bottom lip, running his fingers through his hair. "I would have to get it cleared with Jon, our manager, and even then my face would most likely have to be blurred for confidentiality."

"I'm sure the group would agree to that and even then you could always keep your camera off. TheDooo and SwaggerSouls both don't have faces. Swagger even wears a helmet to events."

"Have you guys ever played with them?"

"Grizzy has but none of them are really friends with us. Grizzy is pretty much the connection between us and the Misfits. I'd love to play with them though. They seem pretty chill. I just think we have different versions of humor." Pezzy spoke up, taking a sip of his hot tea.

"Yeah, they tend to go darker while we go more immature." Grizzy gulped down his coffee in almost one go, sighing contently.

Out of nowhere, two waitresses arrived with five plates of food. Grizzy had ordered a small stack of pancakes, same as Tuxy. Jesse got fried eggs and french toast practically drenched in syrup. Pezzy and Zach both got omelets, both mouthwatering delicious. Zach got mushrooms, peppers, ham and bacon while Pezzy got cheddar cheese, peppers, onions, and ham. They all came with a side of potatoes, cooked to perfection.

"I don't know how you're able to eat an omelet with cheese." Zach had on an amused expression of disgust, fake gagging, obviously slowly getting more comfortable with the group.

Pezzy paused in his motion of bringing the fork up to his mouth, staring slightly. "I've honestly never had it any other way."

"You should because it's so good." Zach took about bite of his, almost moaning at the taste. Movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to look at Pezzy who was currently trying to steal a bite of his food.

"Hey-"

"You told me to try it." His smile was smug and Zach's jaw dropped, almost stuck in a half laugh. 

"I didn't mean- that's my-" Zach spluttered over his words, laughing as Tuxy stabbed a fork into his potatoes, effectively stealing one. "So this is how it's going to be?" When Tuxy and Pezzy nodded, Zach stole a potatoes and a slice of bacon, smiling smugly. 

Jesse quickly reached over and grabbed a pancake from Grizzy's stack, getting a startled "Hey!" from him. Everyone started stealing each other's food, laughing and chatting away about the most random things.

Zach felt like he had known these guys for ages and it was crazy. When everyone had finally finished their... feast, it was calm, although they still laughed.

"That was interesting." Zach let out a laugh, popping one last potato into his mouth.

"Welcome to the group, kid."


	6. Chapter 6

"So what do we wanna do?" As they got up from the table, Grizzy asked the question they were all thinking. 

"Well, I know a nice place on the beach that's quiet. Barely anyone knows how to get to it. If you guys are down, I can take you there. It's a little bit of a hike."

"Yeah sure. Dude what if we made a vlog." Grizzy laughed at Jesse but nodded excitedly.

"We should!" They all turned to Zach, waiting for the brunet to make a decision. They walked to the parking lot, unlocking their cars.

"Sure, just make sure to blur my face." The four rambunctious boys agreed to that condition, hopping in their cars. "Follow me." Zach's white McLaren revved up, and he exited the parking lots, driving down the surprisingly empty roads for this time of day. 

In his rearview mirror, he watched as the boys followed him out the cafe parking lot and towards the beach. After a few minutes, Zach pulled up alongside the cliff in a dirt parking lot. There was a good 30-foot drop to the sand below, and an old, thin wood and wire fence that looking like it would fall if you even had laid a hand on it.

Two other cars were parked in the same area, although there was no one else in sight. A sleek, black BMW i8 and a white Audi R8 were both sparkling clean, except with some of the dirt from the parking lot littered on the tires.

Zach hopped out and turned around, watching as Pezzy, Grizzy, Jesse, and Tuxy all scrambled out of the car, pushing and shoving. Pezzy's voice squeaked as Tuxy shoved him into the dirt, managing to pull the taller to the ground, dust covering both of their shirts.

"C'mon man! You got dirt on me."

"You've had that ratty hoodie for years, Tuxy, calm your shit. You can barely even notice it." They helped each other up, laughing.

" _Okay_ , children. Let's get going." Zach rolled his eyes, laughing at their juvenile antics. He pushed aside some dead bushes, revealing a small path leading down the cliff.

"That doesn't look safe," Jesse mumbled under his breath, following the new brunet down the dirt trail, watching his step carefully to make sure he didn't trip over a rock or something and fall to his death.

"My bandmates and I lugged lights and cameras down here one time for a music video shoot. We'll be fine. There's also a little surprise that we have here." Zach didn't look behind him to see if everyone else was following. "It's technically private property."

"We're trespassing right now?" Pezzy's voice raised an octave.

"I never said who owned the property." He flashed a little sneaky smile towards the boys, hurrying his pace down the cliff.

"Who owns the property?"

"Friends of mine. You may know of them. They allow us to bring friends here as long as we don't throw insane parties without their permission." They had finally reached the bottom of the cliff, and the boys looked around in awe. 

It was a small but beautiful cove, with teal-blue waves lapping at the almost white, finely grained sand. The area was surrounded on three sides by rocky cliffside, although there was a small cave opening to the right of them. On the left, however, was a large, rustic-looking beach house.

The house was about two stories, with what looked like an above-ground basement. Wooden stairs led up to the main glass doors on the large balcony, where one figure stood staring at the Pacific Ocean.

"Hey! Jay! My man!" At the sound of someone else's voice, the black-haired boy hopped over the glass balcony wall and onto the powdery sand.

"Zach! Back so soon?" The four boys watched as Zach and "Jay" embraced, greeting each other with something that looked similarly like a bro-hug.

"You know it. These are some friends of mine. We were in the area and were trying to find something to do." Zach gestured to the group behind him, who was still filming.

"Y'all are YouTubers too? What do y'all specialize in?"

"Oh uh... actually we do gaming and comedy. We just decided to vlog for the hell of it." The boy laughed a laugh similar to something one would describe as "country."

"Nice, aha. Me and the boys specialize in paranormal and I do primarily serial killer memorabilia and other things like that." The new group looked taken aback at the entire persona of this new person. It was oddly confusing. "I'm Jake, by the way. Jake Webber."

"Daniel, but I go by Pezzy for privacy reasons."

"Nelson, Grizzy. Same thing."

"I'm Jesse. I go by PlayDead, but my name is out there."

"Greyson, but I use Tuxy."

Jake shook hands with all of them, smiling widely. He always loved making new connections. 

"Jake, is the rest of the Traphouse here?" Four different sets of eyebrows raised at the word "Traphouse." A trap house was technically where illegal drugs were manufactured, also known as a crack house, so you can only imagine what was inside.

"Yeah, man. No one's filming today so we all decided to come out here and relax for a bit. C'mon inside." Jake lead the group of five up the stairs and through the glass doors.

"Should we keep filming?" It was a murmur, but Jake heard it.

"Y'all are good to film whatever as long as the rest of the boys see you are."

Once the billowing soft white curtains were pushed aside, a large and open living space came into view. Three figures sat on the couches, making casual conversation about whatever topics they could think of.

The blonde boy on the couch was wearing a long t-shirt and sweatpants, as well as clear, round glasses, giving him the appearance of a young Jeffery Dahmer, as so many of their fans call him.

Next to him was a boy with black and blue hair and wearing a long black sweatshirt as well as a black beanie and ripped jeans. With the chain necklaces and belt, he had the appearance of more grunge with a hint of flair.

The final boy sat across from the pair, wearing his hair in a bun and had on a plaid sweatshirt and ripped jeans, leaning back casually with his legs slightly spread open.

"Look what Moo Moo dragged in." Jake dramatically bowed, revealing the group of five. Moo Moo was the Traphouse's mascot, aka a stray cat that had shown up with his buddies after they moved into the new house.

"Hey, Zach. Who're the friends?"

"Uh, this is Grizzy, Pezzy, Jesse, and Tuxy. We were in the area trying to find something to do."

Sam raised an eyebrow at the odd names, leaning back into the couch next to Colby who was actually upside-down. "Interesting names?" It was a statement that sounded like a question, but not exactly formatted as one. "YouTube?"

"Gaming and comedy."

"Welcome. We're all paranormal YouTubers. I'm Sam, that's Colby and Corey." Sam pointed out the other two boys respectively, watching as they waved to the group. 

"Sit down." All 9 boys were gathered on the couch, already feeling comfortable in the presence. Everyone seemed so laid back.

Colby flipped himself right side up, most likely because they had guests again. "Sam and I have a group channel where we do explorations of abandoned locations and paranormal investigations. Sam is focused on more rituals, Jake likes serial killers, and Corey has his demon following."

"Dude! Not cool!"  
  
"It's true, Corey." Jake laughed, watching as the eldest pouted.

"So, tell us about yourself." There was a pause in the conversation as the new friends figured out what was going to be said when Grizzy spoke up.

"Well, we are from all over the US. We met online through games and became friends."

"Tuxy and I met Grizzy in the same game, actually. We were all on the same team and we played with him, Fitz, and Smii7y, I believe." Pezzy spoke up next, feeling awkward as there was a lot of attention on them.

"And then we met Jesse when Grizzy introduced us to a bunch of other small-time YouTubers. We're good friends with TheDooo but that's really it in big names. All of us have under 200k subs."

"What brought you guys to LA?" That was Jake's question, having been curious since they said they were from all around the country.

"Tuxy already lived in LA and it's a big area for creators and such. I still visit my family down in Australia for the first half of the year. Pezzy lived in Chicago and Grizzy was in Florida. We decided LA was a good central hub since the rest of our friends are from Europe or down south."

"Corey, actually, is from Florida. Sam, Jake, and I all grew up in good 'ol Kansas." Colby threw on a southern accent for the last part of the sentence, gaining a couple of laughs.

"I actually grew up in Texas. Isn't Ash from there or something?" Zach removed his shoes and pulled his legs up onto the couch, leaning comfortably into the corner of the comfy couch as he asked his question. 

"Nah, Ash lives in Arizona. Droid lives in Texas though. Geoff is in Oklahoma." Grizzy answered his question. He had somehow already dove into the bowl of pretzels sitting on the coffee table in the middle.

All of a sudden, heavy drops of water began pounding on the rooftop, echoing throughout the room. Everyone looked up towards the skylight where dark clouds could be seen overhead and water droplets were splattering on the glass.

The thunderous storm had appeared out of nowhere, and it looked as though the group would be stuck at the cabin for a while. The group of nine looked at each other as the originally naturally bright room grew darker as clouds moved in.

"Movie night, anyone?"


	7. Chapter 7

In all honesty, Zach was bored. Surprisingly, no one was on Discord at the moment, which was a bit of a shock considering there were around 30 people on the server and someone was _always_ online.

So, he was currently chilling, alone, of course, in the Penthouse voice channel. He had his black acoustic guitar out on his lap, absently strumming the strings any which way. His white and blue gaming chair was in an almost flat position, so Zach was just laying there, staring at the ceiling.

A light noise came through his speakers from the bedroom of his apartment and he sat up, biting his lip at the unfamiliar profile picture before looking on the left column to see the name.

_TheDooo_

Oh. Shit.

TheDooo was actually one of Zach's favorite artists and YouTubers and he completely and utterly admires what the man did. 

"Hey man!" The camera popped on, revealing a beautiful scarlet electric guitar and pale forearms.

"Hey." Zach bit his lip, blushing at the greeting which most likely sounded very uninterested. "Sorry, that sounded a bit rude. Uh... what's up?"

"Oh, the usual. Fucking with people on Omegle, pretending I'm a girl, flirting with McNasty." Zach snorted at the comment, sitting up in his chair slightly. "So you're that new kid, right? Been about two weeks since you've joined us?"

"Yeah. Tuxy accidentally added me to their group chat and I became pretty close to them quickly. It's a bit uncomfortable sometimes though because I don't understand half the inside jokes they have with one another." Zach rubbed the back of his neck before going back to fiddle with his guitar.

"Those guys honestly stick with each other. The only people who will actually branch out and play with other people is really Grizzy and Tuxy. So if they welcomed you into their circle, then they really like you and are trusting you to respect them too." 

"Yeah, I guess. They asked me to do YouTube with them." The call was silent for a minute as Dooo thought of what to say.

"I'd say that if you wanna give it a shot, then do it. Why not?" Zach looked as though he was contemplating whether or not he should.

"Fuck it. I'd have to clear it with my manager and stuff. Y'know what, I'm just going to call him now." Zach pulls out his phone as Dooo laughs, already liking the kid.

Zach clicked on the call button and placed it onto speakerphone, nervously listening to it ring as he placed his guitar in its stand. 

_"What's up Zach?"_

"So uh-" The brunet immediately started rambling about YouTube and streaming and music so fast that even Dooo could barely understand him.

 _"Kid, slow down. I can barely hear a word you're saying."_ Zach's cheeks flushed red when he realized what he sounded like.

"So about two weeks ago..." The whole conversation, with the occasional question from Jon, only took a few minutes. Dooo stayed silent most of the time, internally rooting for Zach.

 _"Sure."_ Zach's mouth dropped open in shock. The boys loved Jon, but he could be a bit of a stickler when it came down to it.

"Sure? Just like that? Just _sure_?"

_"On a few conditions. Don't show your face or have your name out there. I'll make the rest of your recording buddies sign a contract if I have to. Don't say anything too' Rated-R' or '18+.' Shit like that. And just, keep me updated if anything happens."_

"Shit, man. Yeah, of course. I'll speak to everyone. Thank you so much, Jon, you're amazing." Zach spun around in his chair, a wide grin on his face.

 _"Go have fun, kid."_ The call disconnected and Dooo played a little happy strum on his own guitar, a large grin on his face although it couldn't be seen.

"Hell yeah!" Zach's fist punched the air and he fell back into his chair, sighing.

"Do you mind if I actually record right now?" Zach shook his head, a wide grin still plastered on his face. "So what instruments do you play? I saw you do electric and acoustic guitar, but besides that, I haven't seen anything." Dooo opened up his OBS, adjusting his settings.

Zach chuckled slightly, rummaging around in a drawer for something. When he finally found what he was looking for and showed it to the camera, Dooo busted out laughing.

"An otamatone?" Dooo quickly left the camera view, coming back with his own in his hand. Now Zach was curling up in his seat with laughter, still clutching his otamatone. "Shall we play a lovely duet?"

Jokingly, Zach began playing the beginning of _Can't Help Fallin In Love With You_ , Dooo quickly joining in. It sounded both amazing and horrible at the same time and when both musicians finished playing, they both began to cry of laugher.

Zach was currently curled up in his chair, tears of laughter pricking at the edges of his eyes. Dooo was half out of frame, hunched over.

"Jesus fuck." Zach's gaming chair clicked all the way back, allowing him to bring his knees into his chest.

"Zach?" A new voice came to the doorway, causing Zach to accidentally flip over in his chair, landing on the hardwood floor. "Zach!" Dooo watched as a boy with dark brown hair rushed into the frame, carefully helping Zach sit up.

The younger boy rubbed his shoulder gingerly, still trying to suck in air from getting the wind knocked out of him.

"Hey, Corbyn." Zach was breathily chuckling, allowing the taller boy to lift him up, dropping him onto the bed. "That fucking hurt."

"Hey, man. You good?" Corbyn looked over where the voice came from, seeing the lower torso and the otamatone and raising an eyebrow at his bandmate who just shook his head.

"Peachy, Dooo. Just peachy." 

"I'll get you an icepack," Corbyn murmured, leaving the room to go scavenge through Zach's freezer. Faintly, from across the apartment, he shouted, "How do you not have any goddamned icepacks, Herron?"

"We made some great music, didn't we?" Dooo laughed again, playing a little riff on the stupid meme instrument he had in his hands. "I'm guessing that was a yes?"

"Yeah, man. You mind if I post some content with you? Face blurred and all."

"Go ahead." Corbyn walked back into the room with a Ziploc bag with some unknown liquid in it. Zach glanced up at him, silently asking what that was.

"Since you don't have any icepacks, I have to search your cabinets, which are practically bare, by the way, and make something that my mom made when I got hurt during football in highschool. It works like an icepack but it's more flexible since it's liquid."

Zach smiled shyly, a bit embarrassed about how the boys baby him still sometimes. Even if he lived alone, they still checked up on him. 

"What were you doing here anyway? I didn't even hear you come in."

"We decided to chill at the house for a bit. Daniel and I were passing through and wanted to see if you wanted to come. You weren't answering your phone and-" Daniel suddenly burst into the room, floppy blonde hair somehow messier than usual.

"Are both of you dead or some shit? Answer your phones, it's not that hard-" Daniel trailed off on the last word, looking at Zach's grimace. "What happened?"

Corbyn explained how he got scared and Zach moved to his computer, plugging his headset in before addressing Dooo.

"Sorry, man. I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, of course. Don't worry about it, kid." Zach waved and hung up the phone, turning back to his idiot friends.

"So does that mean you're coming?"


	8. Chapter 8

Chromez was live streaming Among Us with the boys, music playing in the background as chaos ensued. He had added a bunch of Why Don't We's songs to his streaming playlist and his fans were vibing with it. In the Discord call was Tuxy, Grizzy, Jesse, Juice, aka James, Retrixx, Ash, and Pezzy.

It had been almost two months since they had met Zach and about one since he started to upload on YouTube under the alias Foxy (Zach said it was Tuxy's and Pezzy's idea and it honestly wasn't too hard to believe). He already had about 20,000 subscribers and 2,000 followers on Instagram.

"Play Lotus Inn?" Chromez muttered to himself as he read his chat, typing it up in his Spotify. He was in the lobby, waiting for everyone else to join, so everyone could hear what was being said.

"Oh damn. They released it? Fuck it, I'll play it. Yo, Tuxy, Grizzy."

"What's up, jawline?"

"Shut up. Why Don't We released a song last night."

"Oh shit, play it," Chromez spoke to his Alexa on his desk, raising the volume. 

The song started off very upbeat but was also very laid back. He would definitely be adding this to his playlist.

_"I saw you movin' on the dance floor.  
I caught you lookin' over at me and my friends.  
Got my attention, now I want more.  
I think we both know how this night's gonna end."_

_"The way that you move your hips to the rhythm of the beat  
You got me so nervous, think I need another drink  
But then you grabbed my hand, said, 'Baby, come with me'  
This wasn't a part of the plan, no."_

"That's Jack, right? I'm pretty sure." Chromez had become a big fan of their music in the past few weeks. Screams and fangirling in the chat confirmed his suspicions.

 _"But you look, you look so perfect dancing next to me.  
I wish the sun would look the other way."_  
  
"Goddamn Zach, coming at us like that!" Chromez fanned himself as a joke, making everyone laugh. When his phone started to buzz, he laughed. "Well speak of the devil. Welcome to Chromez's Song of the Day Segment, you are live on the air right now!"

 _"Now I came onto your Livestream to relax and watch y'all idiots scream at one another and I hear **me**. Are you fallin' for me, Chromezy?" _Zach's voice was smooth and deep, obviously using a seductive tone as it was a running joke between the group. _"I think you are."_

"In your dreams, Herron." Chromez leaned back into his chair, smugly smiling. "The guys are all screaming at me to flirt more with you. Shall we?"

 _"You already have my number, so how about you give me the code and we'll put on a show for everyone."_ Chromez was doing his best to stifle his laugh and not fuck up the bit, and he could tell Zach was struggling to do the same. _"I'll be waiting."_

The phone clicked, indicating Zach hung up the phone, and howling from the video call could be heard as everyone watched Chromez's cheeks turn bright red.

"Dude, my chat is flipping out now. Lemme DM Zach the code." The standard Discord noise was heard when Zach joined the chat room, causing the chat to flip out once more.

"If my voice is shot it's because I was at the studio all day." It was the first time Zach had shown his identity within the group, and the few people who were watching were beginning to make connections. Thankfully, Zach sounded different than his YouTube persona due to overworking his voice as well as a few modifications. 

"My chat is asking if we're dating oh my god." Chromez laughed, listening as Zach's deep chuckle came over his headset, as well as the rest of their friend group.

"No, we are not dating, jeez."

"That's because he's dating me," Tuxy spoke up, flashing the crazy eyes at Zach.

"Yes, my one and only."

"Dude, you're so fucked tomorrow. I can't wait to see what your fans think of this."

He just laughed.

\--- --- ---

After the Livestream had ended, Retrixx and Pezzy left the call, having to do other things, which really just left Chromez with Zach, Ash, Grizzy, Jesse, James, and Tuxy.

"So I have a little bit of news and Jon, my manager, gave me permission to tell y'all about it beforehand." Zach had his LED lights on and the orange and red definitely helped the whole "Foxy" thing.

"Ooh, do tell."

"Me and my bandmates are doing a worldwide tour next year, starting in February."

"Hell yeah!"

"Does that mean we finally get to hear you perform?"

"Forget that, does this mean we're finally meeting?" Chromez was excited to meet one of his best friends. Sometimes he forgot that he, James, Wozenz, Simple, Ash, Droid, and Geoff all haven't met him yet with how close they all were.

"I mean... Jon said I can get you guys backstage." Zach laughed as everyone cheered and chattered, watching all of their reactions. "Let me know what countries you would go to when I send the list so I can let my team know."

Instantly, his DMs were flooded by his friends sending their location.

Denmark, Netherlands, Texas, Arizona, Britain, etc.

"Hey, Ash."

"Hm."

"Would you, Droid, and Geoff all want to come to the Texas show? It's the biggest arena out of the Southern loop so I can get all of you most likely."

"I could. Geoff lives in Oklahoma so it shouldn't be much of a problem for him."

"And then Nathan and Wozenz... Netherlands." Zach was muttering to himself, jotting down names, places, and dates on a piece of paper. "Alright, I'll talk to everyone else but I'll let you know the date and time. You'll have to show ID to security when on line and say you're on the list."

"God imagine you and James meeting. That's going to be fucking chaotic. You guys are going to manage to destroy the UK within three hours of meeting one another."

"C'mon Chromez, have a little faith."


	9. Chapter 9

**for incendium150**

Zach knocked on the apartment door, backpack slung over his shoulder, excited for what was to come tonight.

In Zach's personal opinion, Halloween was the best holiday. He didn't understand what people hated about it. The one day a year where you could dress up as anything you wanted and just have fun with no one judging you?

And besides, _the parties_. Everyone loves a good party. 99% of the people there are either drunk, stoned, or both. It was always very interesting to people watch if you didn't want to get hungover.

The door swung open, revealing a shirtless Jesse, who playfully winked at Zach, a smug smile dancing over his face.

"Hey, Sexy. C'mon in." Zach walked into the large living room/kitchen, placing the bag on the marble kitchen counter before sitting on the barstool.

"You ready for tonight?" Zach leaned back casually, catching the iced tea Jesse tossed at him, cracking it open.

"Of course, man. You know I love a good party. Will they let me, you, and Grizzy drink?"

"I don't see why not? Jake was like- 19 when he moved in with the boys. And it's not like we all haven't drank before. And it's a fuckin' party."

"I mean, you're right. Dude! Just wait for PAX! Our party last year got really crazy." Jesse was bouncing around, the hyperactive kid he usually was.

"Is that Foxy?" Pezzy's voice could be heard from the far bedroom, most likely still changing into his Halloween costume.

"Yep!" Zach shouted back at the elder man, smiling softly in thought. Pezzy had become accustomed to calling Zach "Foxy," as it was his alias, but also as just a nickname. The rest of the group either called him "Kid," or "Zeph," yet another Alias, this one suggested by Sam and Colby, who were some of the few who also knew about his identity.

"Oh yeah!" Pezzy burst out of his room, humping the air in his Vector costume. Zach and Jesse burst out laughing, tears pricking at the corner of their eyelids as they stared at one of their best friends.

"Jesus Christ, Pez. You be looking quite smexy in that bright orange jumpsuit. Very hot if I do say so myself." Zach let a smirk-like smile peek at his lips, chuckling slightly.

"Tuxy is finishing up editing and Grizzy is in his last game of Among Us so after they're done we'll head over to the Traphouse." Pezzy sat down on a barstool after grabbing himself a White Claw, popping it open loudly.

"We're just waiting on Grizzy now-" A scream of rage, also known as Nelson, came from Grizzy's room, indicating that he most likely died, "Or nevermind. Give him a good minute." Grizzy came storming out of his room a few seconds later, backpack slung over his shoulder.

"I play with fucking retards." The group burst out laughing, following Grizzy as Tuxy locked the door behind them.

"You alright there, buddy?" Zach did his best to keep from laughing, seemingly having more self-control than the idiots behind him. Grizzy grumbled a handful of profanities under his breath, rolling his eyes at his roommates.

"Let's just get to the Traphouse so we can help set up."

\--- --- ---

"Hey! Look who it is!" Sam came out of the house as the group pulled up, two cars parking in the large lot, filling the space. Pezzy hopped out of Zach's white car, fully dressed in his Vector costume, giant glasses included. Jesse, Tuxy, and Grizzy all rode in another car, having the extra space for drinks and snacks. "Pezzy, I'm loving the costume."

"Thanks, Sam."

"Hey man. We won't have to be worried about our cars getting spray painted by drunk YouTubers or something will we?" The blond let out a chuckle at Zach's question, pulling the younger man in for a hug.

"I highly doubt it. Also, your bandmates may be at this party, I'm not exactly sure." Zach shrugged, not caring either way. The boys would sometimes split up to go to parties such as this, so it was always an interesting time seeing them.

"Well now that that's settled, let's head inside." Grizzy and Pezzy carried in a few bottles and packs of alcohol, while Jesse, Tuxy, and Zach grabbed the bags of chips from the trunk.

The group of five walked behind Sam into the house, watching as Corey set up a DJ table in the main room, hooking it up to the speakers.

"Hey, Corey." Corey hopped off the platform, bro-hugging everyone, starting with Tuxy and ending with Grizzy.

"Y'all ready for tonight?" He had his cheeky grin on his face, his right dimple showing as he smiled widely.

"Hell yeah."

"Also, Pez. Your costume is incredible." Corey laughed at the bright orange jumpsuit, watching as the younger man laugher, smiling brightly.

"Are the boys here? We want them to ride the shark!" Jake screaming from the backyard, the noise muffled since the backdoor was closed. Grizzy, raising an eyebrow and opening the door, peeking his head out cautiously.

What he saw made him burst out laughing, letting the rest of the boys look past him.

Colby, shirtless with only a pair of jeans and a cowboy hat on, was currently riding on an inflatable... shark? It was bucking back and forth, the machine doing its best to throw the blue-haired man off its back.

"Hey, guys!" Colby tried to wave, only to get thrown off when he lost his balance, flying into the side with a scream. He flew into the back wall of the inflatable platform, laughing breathily. "That's so much fun."

"Can I try?" Jesse looked like a little kid at a candy shop when Jake nodded amusedly. He quickly hopped onto the shark and Jake waited for Colby to get off before starting the machine up.

The machine began slowly rocking back and forth before working itself up to a bucking motion, jolting all over the place and tossing Jesse off. He flew towards the group, rolling off the bouncy and onto the grass.

"Are you good, Jess?" Zach helped the younger boy up, watching as a large shit-eating grin appeared on his face.

"That was fucking fun." Zach rolled his eyes as everyone laughed.

Corey, Colby, Pezzy, and Tuxy, being the tallest there, quickly got to work setting up the backyard with fairy lights, since it was their first party at the new house. The tiny lights adorned the fence and trees, looping around elegantly. They all glowed with soft yellow-white light, lighting up the backyard but not enough to cause a headache.

Zach, Jesse, Grizzy, and Jake were assigned to set up the bar in the main gazebo structure in the yard. It was sort of ironic, considering they were all the youngest of the group, but it worked. Alcohol went in the fridge, coolers, and racks while chips and pretzels were poured in bowls. 

It was about four PM, and people were going to start arriving soon. They had just finished setting everything else up, making sure all the public rooms were in order and all the private ones were locked.

"Hey." Everyone looked up at Colby, who stood in the doorway. "We should change into our costumes." Everyone stood up except for Pezzy, who was already in his costume.

"Just find a room and change." Everyone cleared out of the living room, leaving Pezzy alone, laying back as he listened to the music.

He was pretty sure he had already heard this playlist before. LoFi hip hop was somewhat up his alley. It was relaxing. Not like... spa music relaxing but had a good beat that put you at ease whenever you heard it.

After a little while of relaxing, Sam and Jake came down the stairs and plopped down on the couch. 

Sam was dressed up as Ross from Friends, wearing the same light blue sweater as the "Get a Load of This Guy" meme as well as khaki slacks, black dress shoes, and a dark, short-haired wig.

Jake had on a white ratty shirt paired with a brown fake animal skin vest and puke brown pants and shoes. Pezzy recognized it immediately as Shrek, an iconic character.

"God, we're literally a group of memes." Pezzy laughed his iconic laugh, his voice getting higher as they all burst into tears staring at each other's ridiculousness. Vector, Ross Geller, and Shrek. Not to mention the crewmates and imposters upstairs who were still getting changed into their costumes.

Around a minute later, they all trooped down the stairs, helmets on and looking scary as fuck.

Zach was fully decked out in all black, having gloves with studs on them and knee-high combat boots with metal rims that made loud marching noises whenever he stepped. They also gave him the appearance of being taller than he actually was. He had no hat or accessory, but it fit the persona. Although he still wasn't the tallest of the group, he was probably the scariest, especially with the dark red blood splatter across his suit and visor.

Tuxy was next, wearing a yellow Air Force suit as well as bright yellow boots and white gloves with black accents on them. On his head was the decorative banana peel that was in the game, probably glued on. He was the second tallest in the group, being a little over 5'10'.

Grizzy had on a brown NASA jumpsuit with the American flag on it as well as black combat boots and black winter gloves. Sitting on top of his brown spray painted helmet was a black fedora, again, most likely hot glued on. A few graffiti-like designs were painted on the legs and helmet, adding a splash of color to the dry outfit.

Jesse slid down the stairs on his ass, landing with a groan, making everyone laugh at his childish antics.

"I feel as though Jake and Jesse are actually the same people." Everyone agreed, including Jake and Jesse themselves because it really was chill. Creative geniuses with very childish and humorous personalities that could make anyone laugh.

Jesse was wearing a purple NASA suit complete with its very own rich purple helmet and a green elvish hat. Bloodstains drenched his lower body as well as the occasional splatter on his helmet and hat. His black combat boots, like Zach's, had a metal heel and studs lining the seam. Every time he took a step it sounded menacing.

Colby was in a dark blue jumpsuit, contrasting with his black gloves and boots, and helmet. Sitting on top of his helmet was a slouched blue beanie with his and Sam's logo on it, adding a little XPLR flair to his costume. Colby was the tallest out of everyone, but also one of the skinniest, making him look tall and lanky.

Corey was the final one down the stairs, wearing a matching aqua colored suit and helmet, equipped with its own plant hat coming out of the top. He was the second tallest in the group being almost 5'11" but not quite yet. He also had white gloves and combat boots which went nicely with the light blue color.

"Jesus Christ, you guys look fuckin' terrifying." Jake gaped at their lowkey insane costumes and how well they all came together for Halloween.

"Jay, do you need me to do your face paint?" Zach's voice was muffled from under the helmet but he removed it, followed by the rest of the group. Jake nodded, grabbing the small makeup bag he brought downstairs from his room.

Zach crouched down as the rest of the group spread out around the room to chill before the first guests arrived. It took a few minutes but Zach finished applying the green face paint to Jake's face, finishing off his look as Shrek.

Around 4:45, a knock on the door caused Colby to get up, opening up to see Sam's and Jake's girlfriends, both dressed accordingly to their significant others. Katrina was dressed as Rachel from _Friends_ and Tara was dressed as the human version of Fiona.

"Hey." Colby hugged both of them before leading the pair into the living room where Jesse, Jake, and Zach were all acting like a bunch of children, wrestling on the ground.

Kat kissed Sam hello while Tara just stood there amused, rolling her eyes at the childish sight in front of her.

"God, you guys are actually 5-years-old." Everyone laughed as Jesse and Jake teamed up to pin Zach onto the ground, basically sitting on top of him. Jesse was on top of his legs while Jake held down his shoulders, only allowing Zach to buck slightly.

He was clearly out of breath and eventually stopped struggling, laying there and panting. He was just... there, just not mentally. The boys climbed off of him, helping him stand up. Zach stumbled, knees almost giving out for a split second.

He didn't realize someone was calling his name until there was a hand waving in front of his face, snapping him out of his stupor. It was only then where Zach realized that everyone was staring at him and Jesse was holding him up by his waist.

"Zach, are you okay? Did we hurt you? What the fuck was that?" Jake was partially panicking at one of his best friend's reactions to playful fighting.

"Yeah... I'm good. I don't know what that was, I... I need some air." He felt nervous, numb, empty, there were so many words to what he was feeling and it was confusing. Zach rushed out the front door, immediately puking in the bushes. A hand being placed on his shoulder made him turn around, seeing Grizzy stare at him worriedly. 

"Hey, are you good?" His voice was quieter than usual, an indication that he was concerned. "Do you wanna go home or something?" 

Zach shook his head, still confused as to what just happened. "No, I just... I don't know."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Zach bit his lip, clearly thinking about the question. He just nodded letting Grizzy lead him back inside and towards the kitchen to get some privacy.

"What happened in there, Zeph?" Although Zach hadn't flat out said it, the use of his alias helped ground him. Having a secret nickname and identity could seem terrifying and stressful but knowing his other friends could see this other side was him was calming.

"I don't know. I just... I was on the ground and it felt like a wave of anxiety and numbness just flooded my brain." Zach gestured towards his head, gratefully accepting the glass of water from Grizzy and taking a sip before continuing. "I just... I don't know what it is. It isn't the first time I've felt like this but I don't know what it is."

Grizzy sighed, sitting down on the stool beside Zach, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I wish I knew what is happening."

"It's just... I know it's not the first time I've felt this way." Zach had on a sad smile, just staring at Grizzy.

"Stick by me at the party or go up to Jake's room." Chatter slowly grew louder from the other room, indicating more people were beginning to arrive just as it was getting dark.

"Let's go fuck around at the bar."

\--- --- ---

It had been a couple hours since the party started and it was _raging_. Jesse and Zach chugged drinks together under their helmets somehow, sticking towards the center of the crowds. Pezzy was making sure to keep an eye on Zach after what had happened earlier since everyone else, including Grizzy.

"Yeah, Zeph! Let's fuckin' go!" Jake was cheering as Jesse and Zach linked arms, downing another beer. It wasn't just Jake though. A good third of the guests were surrounding the pair, cheering as they drank probably way too much for their height and weight.

Once the pair broke apart, Pezzy grabbed Zach as he stumbled, giggling underneath his mask. Rolling his eyes, Pezzy just hauled Zach over his shoulder and grabbed Jesse's hand, leading them up the stairs to calm the fuck down and quite possibly sleep.

"Pezzy!" Jesse was whining as the taller man, making him literally feel like his and Zach's dad. "I wanna drink more!" 

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're way too fucking drunk already. You don't need any more alcohol you complete retard."

"I'm not _that_ drunk!" Pezzy just squinted his eyes at the Australian boy and the shit-eating grin on his face, shaking his head in amusement.

"Can you tell the time?" Pezzy gestured to the clock on the movie theater wall, watching as Jesse faced the clock, one hand on his hip and the other pointed at the simple round clock.

"I'm not that drunk!" Pezzy just facepalmed, letting out a sigh of complete and utter disappointment in his friend.

He spoke _to_ the clock.

Pezzy just shook his head and carefully placed Zach down on one of the many beanbag chairs, watching as the small boy curled in on himself. It looked as though he passed out during the journey up there. 

Jesse finally quieted down, dropping himself onto the same beanbag as Zach, quickly passing out. Pezzy just rolled his eyes and laughed, leaving to go party some more.

"Idiots."


	10. Chapter 10

It had been almost three weeks since Sam and Colby's insane Halloween party, making it November 18th, and Zach hadn't had an episode since like the one he did.

The boys were in the studio practically every day, ten hours a day, practicing songs for their tour in February. Although it was stressful, Zach was excited and overworking himself. He was finally going to meet another good portion of his friend group. Granted, Buffalo, Nikki, Mazz, Jay, Houston, Dergie, Chloe, Smii7y, Kyroz, Blarg, Soup, McNasty, and Rectrixx weren't able to make it to the venue on that date or in general.

But on the US leg of the trip, he would finally meet Droid, Geoff, and Ash. Later, when going internationally, he would meet Chromez, Simple, Wozenz, Juice, and the Misfits. So really, this tour would probably be the best one of his life.

Over the past three or four months he had known these guys, they had become close, like best friends, or even family. The Misfits were still in their own group but Swagger was playing more with Smii7y and Kyroz while Fitz and Tobi were constantly playing with Jesse and Zach.

It was truly one of the craziest experiences of his life. Zach now had over 100,000 subscribers, becoming one of the most popular people in his main friend group besides Dooo, Grizzy, Tuxy, and Ash.

Right now, in the studio, Zach and the rest of the boys were busy practicing the choreography for Lotus Inn, sweaty and tired. They were in hour eight of their practice schedule and everyone had slept for a little while except for Zach, who was too nervous and too stressed to do so.

Finally, Jon let them leave and they were more than happy too. Of course, they loved their job, more than anything else in the world, well besides their families and each other, but sometimes it was insanely tiring. On the last tour, Jack suffered from some really bad anxiety attacks and other freakouts. Zach and Corbyn both had insomnia and slight anxiety as well.

Zach somehow had driven himself home, surprised he was honestly still able to stay awake and not keel over. Sluggishly, he unlocked his apartment door, flicking on the light and tossing his bag on the couch before making his way to his bedroom.

He was about to fall over when a noise came from his computer.

_**Incoming Call From** Butter my Pickle (Chromez, Grizzy, Simple Robinson, Wozenz)_

He clicked _accept_ , curling up in his chair under a blanket and putting on his headset.

"Hey, Foxy!" Grizzy's enthusiastic voice blasted through his head, causing him to let out a pained moan and curl up even more.

"Zach, are you okay?" Wozenz's voice was worried as he looked at the blank profile picture, not able to see what was happening. Chromez was also trying to get his attention.

"Head. Throat. Stomach. Tired." Zach didn't even speak in sentences, just small, distressed words describing his turmoil.

"Zach, do you want me to come over? I don't want you being alone if you're like that." Zach was silent, aside from short, heavy breathing.

"Okay." His voice was raspy, clearly worn from weeks of rehearsal and now Zach was finally paying the price for barely taking care of himself. Grizzy disconnected from the call, leaving them in worried silence.

"Zach, can you turn on your camera?" Chromez kept his voice quiet, not wanting to cause the younger boy any more pain. The camera flipped on, revealing Zach under a large blanket in his chair, face pale and eyes hooded. "Jesus, Zay. You need to start taking care of yourself."

"No time. YouTube. Studio. Friends."

"What if one of the guys stays with you for a bit?" Zach looked up confused, just staring at Nathan, wondering what he meant.

"Y'know... like... Grizzy stays in your apartment for a week and makes sure you're eating and sleeping properly."

"I can't ask that of him, Simple."

"Don't worry about it, Foxy." Again, he just stared, confused, clearly too delirious to understand what he was saying.

Zach leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he relaxed to someone's music playing in the background. It was calming and made him sleepy.

Before he knew it, a loud knock came from the front door, causing him to shoot awake. When he glanced back at his computer, Chromez was the only person still in the call. Everyone else had left.

Zach sluggishly made his way over to the door, opening it and seeing Grizzy at the door, standing there with a raised eyebrow. The larger man forced his way inside and closed the door, hugging his friend.

"Okay, get your ass in bed while I make you food. No arguments." He tossed an arm around Zach's shoulders, heading to the younger boy's bedroom. Grizzy basically pushed Zach down onto the bed, waving at an amused Chromez who was watching the interaction.

"If he gets out of that bed, text me." Grizzy addressed his friend become overcome with silent laughter as the headset was still plugged in before saluting and going back to editing.

He chucked a blanket over Zach's tired body before leaving the room, scavenging his kitchen cabinets for food. Thankfully, Zach had stocked his pantry and fridge recently, having a good amount of ingredients.

Grizzy decided to make simple chicken noodle soup because soup was delicious and chicken was _godly_. Who doesn't like chicken?

The entire thing took around 15 minutes to actually prep, so once he put it on the stove to start cooking, Grizzy decided to check on Zach.

Zach was passed out on his bed, facedown into his pillow, arms tucked underneath it. His breathing was even as he slept and he looked peaceful for once. 

Over the past few weeks, the friend group watched as Zach deteriorated both mentally and physically. They tried to ease the burdens on top of his but nothing was really helping him. Grizzy was just hoping that staying with Zach for a while would help him get back into a healthy rhythm.

Grizzy sat down at the computer, moving the mouse to trigger the monitors to turn on. Discord popped up first and he saw that Tuxy, Pezzy, and Ash were in a call together. Grizzy clicked on the call, joining to chaos.

"Foxy! Hey!" Pezzy was most likely drunk, a true rarity.

"I'm not Foxy, Pezzy." Ash and Tuxy, probably also both high or drunk, laughed at their friend's expense, who was now quiet.

"Okay, I am way too drunk."

"No, I'm on his account. I'm at his apartment."

"OH! THAT'S WHERE YOU ARE!" Tuxy was giggling at Pezzy's loud tone.

"Foxy." Tuxy was whining, his eyes so squinted at his computer at this point they looked closed. "Where's my boyfriend, Nelsy." Grizzy laughed at how high Tuxy was.

"He's sick."

"No! My baby!" Ash and Pezzy were now laughing at Tuxy.

"Haha, loser." Grizzy rolled his eyes at his best friends, leaning back in the gaming chair as Zach slept behind him.

\--- --- ---

Grizzy's timer for the soup went off, so he hung up the call with the guys and turned off the stove, carefully stirring and using a ladle to pour the hot liquid into the two bowls he had set onto the counter.

Once he set that on the table, he walked into Zach's room, gently shaking him awake. Zach let out a soft exhale, eyes fluttering open slightly.

"Grizzy? What're you..."

"Taking care of you, idiot. I made food." He just blearily looked around, allowing Grizzy to help him out of bed, finally feeling how weak his body was.

"Thank you." His voice was barely there, just a rasp at this point, which seemed impossible.

"How bad did you strain your voice these past few weeks."

He just shrugged, not making eye contact as he sat at his table, the two friends eating the soup quietly. An awkward silence overcame the pair.

Zach began to cough dryly, sounding like he was wheezing. Grizzy got him a glass of water from the fridge, feeling bad. Zach went to thank him again but he was waved off. He just smiled softly, feeling tired from the day.

"Alright c'mon. You need to sleep." When Zach finished his soup, Grizzy allowed the taller boy to lean on him as they walked to the bedroom. He quickly fell into bed, crawling underneath the mess of blankets, somehow falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Grizzy chuckled softly, feeling a warmth radiating from Zach's forehead as he checked his temperature. Frowning, he made his way over to Zach's giant LoveSac and a giant teddy bear in the corner, letting himself sink into it, quickly following Zach into the dark abyss of sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey, Foxy," Wozenz spoke up, catching his attention.

"Hm?" Zach was currently fiddling with his black electric guitar, glancing up at the camera when he heard his name being called.

"You going to any gaming cons while on tour?"

Zach bit his lip, looking down at the notepad on his desk. "Uhm... Chromez asked if I wanted to go to IEM with him, so I meant to talk to Jon about that..." He trailed off, scribbling something on his paper. "Jesse is also going to be in Australia during the same time as me... he goes March to October about usually, so he asked to go to MEO and PAX to meet Racc and the rest of Misfits."

"God I can't wait for PAX East." Wozenz groaned, not wanting to have to wait a whole year before he could see his friends again. Geoff agreed quietly, mainly focused on editing his new video. "Maybe I'll go to Katowice..."

"What's that?"

"Just another way of saying IEM. Katowice is the city in Poland in which the event is hosted. I actually think Misfits might be going there.

A noise from Discord made everyone look up, looking to see who joined.

"FOXY!" Dooo screaming into his mic, causing everyone to flinch.

"Jesus fuck, Dooo." Zach lifted his headset off his head, wincing at the loud noise. He cautiously placed it back over his ears, hoping no more loud noises would come. "What's up?"

"I'm in LA." The sentence was so casual that Zach had to do a double-take, making sure he heard him correctly.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm in LA, wanna meet up?" Zach froze, causing Wozenz and Geoff to laugh.

"Hell yeah I do, is that even a question?" He finally snapped out of it, a wide smile plastered across his face. The two quickly said bye to Wozenz and Geoff, the pair just rolling their eyes at their musician friends.

The pair quickly began making plans, not exactly sure where they wanted to meet when Zach suggested their studio at the Atlantic Records building.

They agreed to meet up in about an hour at the studio, Zach calling ahead to have them let Dooo in. Only authorized names were allowed in.

"See you then, man."

"Can't wait!"

\--- --- ---

Zach pulled up to the studio, parking his car in his designated spot. The parking lot was about 50 percent full, probably because it was around noon and people didn't start coming in till about 3 pm.

"Hey, Zach." George, the security guard at the front desk checked him in, smiling at the young singer. "You called ahead?"

"Yeah, he here yet?" George nodded, motioning down the hall where their room was.

"Have fun, kiddo. Make some good music for us." Zach gave the man a fistbump, adjusting the guitar bag on his shoulder before walking down the hallway. He opened the door to his studio, his jaw dropping as he saw Dooo's face for the first time.

"Surprised?" Dooo laughed, opening up his arms so they could hug, happy to meet for the first time. Zach pulled him into a tight hug, extremely happy to meet one of his best friends.

"You're different from how I pictured you, man." Dooo had light brown curly hair and dark brown eyes as well as a young face, almost like Zach, except a bit older.

"Can't say the same man." Dooo joked, making Zach roll his eyes and punch the man's shoulder playfully, pulling off his guitar case.

"No shit, Sherlock." Dooo grabbed his iconic, red electric guitar, sitting down on the stool he was originally on, strumming the strings to make sure everything was in tune.

"I have a question for you."

"Hit me." Zach had his back turned to Dooo, plugging in his electric guitar to the amplifier.

"Do you remember that song clip you played me once? In My Blood?" Zach paused in his motions, still turned away so that Dooo didn't see his face.

"Yeah... yeah." He turned around, a mix of emotions present on his face.

"If you don't mind me asking, what... why did you write it. You can obviously see there's a deeper meaning behind the story."

Zach visibly faltered, turning back towards the microphones, fiddling with the wires. "I wrote it when I was 15." He let out a heavy sigh, ducking his head towards the ground, floppy hair blocking his expression. "I was trying to come to terms with my bisexuality. I hadn't come out to anyone but you know how high school kids are like..."

Dooo nodded his agreement, having gone through his own high school rough patches.

"I was... different than most of the people in my grade. I loved fashion and singing and..." Zach let out a dry, humorless chuckle, barely meeting Dooo's gaze. "Well, it was no surprise when I started getting thrown into lockers and called homophobic slurs."

"I'm sorry, Foxy." Zach smiled at his friend, although it wasn't necessarily a happy one.

"I fell into a bad mental space and started distancing myself and getting lost in my own head. I wrote about half of In My Blood then... I finished the lyrics recently, after Halloween."

"Can I help you finish up the instrumentals?" Zach nodded, excited to get some help from an extremely talented musician and producer. He knew that Dooo produced all his music and he was amazing.

"Of course, man."

"Alright, let's record some vocals and figure out what we want to do to fully solidify instrumentals."

"Record?" Zach had never thought of recording the song. Sharing it with his friends was one thing, but Zach never thought it would be good enough to record.

"Yeah. Even if you didn't release it, I think it would be good for you mentally to finally get it out there officially." Zach thought about it before smiling, knowing Dooo was right.

"Let's get to work."

\--- --- ---

"I think that's it. That's the one." Zach pointed at the revised melody they had just wrote down, circling it.

"Yeah." Dooo turned to Zach, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly. The brunet smiled, tears in his eyes.

"Let's run through it one more time?" They both nodded, Dooo adjusting his guitar strap on his shoulder.

Zach got behind the mic, getting ready to sing. Dooo hit the play button on the track, the drum track and background vocals silent for the first half.\

"Let's do this."

—- —- —-

Corbyn walked down the hall towards the studio, bass guitar on his back. He was about to enter the room, having opened the door slightly when a familiar voice hit his ears, shocking him.

"Zach?" He murmured under his breath, moving towards the door window, being carefully not to be seen.

"Help me, it's like the walls are caving in.

Sometimes I feel like giving up,

But I just can't.

It isn't in my blood."

Zach's voice shook at the beginning, obviously emotional and lost in the song. Corbyn was confused; he had never heard this song before, but it obviously meant a lot to him.

_"Laying on the bathroom floor, feeling nothing._

_I'm overwhelmed and insecure, give me something._

_I could take to ease my mind slowly._

_Just have a drink and you'll feel better._

_Just take her home and you'll feel better._

_Keep telling me that it gets better._

_Does it ever?"_

Corbyn didn't recognize the guitarist playing across from Zach, but the guitar he was using felt faintly familiar.

_"Help me, it's like the walls are caving in_

_Sometimes I feel like giving up_

_No medicine is strong enough_

_Someone help me_

_I'm crawling in my skin_

_Sometimes I feel like giving up_

_But I just can't_

_It isn't in my blood_

_It isn't in my blood"_

Zach raised his hands up, visibly shaking, eyes shut tightly.

What did Zach go through? Corbyn listened to the pain and emotion in the lyrics, eyebrows furrowed. Was this something he was going through now?"

_"I'm looking through my phone again, feeling anxious_

_Afraid to be alone again, I hate this_

_I'm tryna find a way to chill, can't breathe, oh_

_Is there somebody who could help me?"_

It was an extremely well built song, and Corbyn found him hooked on the chorus and verses.

_"It's like the walls are caving in_

_Sometimes I feel like giving up_

_No medicine is strong enough_

_Someone help me_

_I'm crawling in my skin_

_Sometimes I feel like giving up_

_But I just can't_

_It isn't in my blood_

_It isn't in my blood"_

Zach's voice got stronger, more powerful than in most of their songs. Zach never really got any of the more stronger portions of the songs. Yeah, he had some high notes in Unbelievable and What Am I, but the band never knew he could hold notes like this. They never actually... asked.

_"I need somebody now_

_I need somebody now_

_Someone to help me out_

_I need somebody now_

_Help me, it's like the walls are caving in_

_Sometimes I feel like giving up_

_But I just can't_

_It isn't in my blood_

_It isn't in my blood, oh, oh_

_It isn't in my blood_

_I need somebody now_

_It isn't in my blood_

_I need somebody now_

_It isn't in my blood"_

Corbyn watched as Zach took a shaky breath, staring up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly, most likely trying to rid himself of the tears forming.

The guitarist stood up, gently placing the red electric guitar to the side and hugging Zach, who hugged back.

Realizing Zach had probably never meant for the band to see that side of him, Corbyn slowly backed away, heading to his car, not intending to say anything to anyone.

He wasn't going to betray a brother like that. Zach would tell them when he was ready to, and Corbyn respected that.


	12. Chapter 12

**_70 missed messages_**  
 ** _chromey_** 🐢 ** _(14)_**  
 ** _saturday, december 20th_**  
 _heyy bes frennn (17:32)_  
 _wanna play some among us? (17:32)_  
 _zach? (17:40)_  
 _hey man, everything ok? you said you were off today (18:54)_  
 _zay, you're worrying me (20:52)_  
 _please answer us (20:54)_  
 _are you okay? (20:54)_  
 _did something happen? (20:54)_  
 _you don't have to tell us, just please say you're okay (20:59)_  
 _you're going to be the death of me (21:06)_  
 _please text us when you get the chance (21:16)_  
 _love you man (21:17)_  
 _stay safe (21:17)_  
 _please (21:17)_

 ** _wozenz_** 🐊 ** _(7)_**  
 ** _saturday, december 20th_**  
 _hey man (20:53)_  
 _chromez is flipping out (20:53)_  
 _are you okay? (20:54)_  
 _you're never mia like this (20:54)_  
 _you're addicted to your phone so (20:55)_  
 _please answer us soon (20:59)_  
 _grizzy might break into your apartment (21:00)_  
 _stay safe (21:00)_

 ** _grizzy_** 🐻 ** _(9)_**  
 ** _saturday, december 20th_**  
 _heyooo (17:33)_  
 _among us w the boys? (17:33)_  
 _ok you've worried chromez and now you've worried me zay (18:52)_  
 _this ain't like you (18:55)_  
 _call us (19:00)_  
 _zachary do not make me break into your apartment (20:32)_  
 _chromez is practically having a panic attack (20:52)_  
 _god if you aren't already in trouble i'm going to kick your ass so hard (20:52)_  
 _please be safe... (20:53)_

 ** _pezzy_** 🔫 ** _(6)_**  
 ** _saturday, december 20th_**  
 _hey man (17:18)_  
 _i hope ur ok (17:19)_  
 _jesses flipping out too (17:20)_  
 _we all had thought you guys talked early this morning but apparently not (17:20)_  
 _apparently, he hasn't heard from you since late yesterday (17:23)_  
 _c'mon man this isn't like you (19:54)_

 ** _jesse presser_** 🦑 ** _(12)_**  
 ** _saturday, december 20th_**  
 _hey man (12:45)_  
 _cmonnnn i'm bored (13:15)_  
 _don't leave me hanging foxy (13:18)_  
 _god you're boring :( (14:02)_  
 _i'm breaking up with you (14:03)_  
 _you've worried chromez, you've worried me (18:23)_  
 _where are you (18:47)_  
 _zach seriously (18:50)_  
 _i don't care if i'm overreacting, i'm worried (19:21)_  
 _even pezzy is flipping out (19:22)_  
 _pezzy! (19:22)_  
 _call me (19:30)_

**_jake webber (4)_ **   
**_saturday, december 20th_ **   
_hey (23:12)_   
_can we film a video together soon (23:12)_   
_i'm bored (23:12)_   
_hmu man (23:30)_

**_18 more messages..._ **   
_show more?_

_—- —- —-_

It was around two in the afternoon in California, making it about eleven PM for Simple, Wozenz, and Chromez while also ten for Juice.

Grizzy, Jesse, Pezzy, and Tuxy were all in the living room, using Grizzy's editing laptop to sit in the Discord call, waiting for a sign of life from Zach.

It may seem like an overreaction to most people but they hadn't heard from him in over 48 hours. Again, maybe an overreaction, but not for Zach.

Zach, you see, was addicted to his friends and texting. If someone talked in the server or the group chat, he was one of the first to respond. Granted, he was horrible at answering phone calls, but still. So if _Zach_ of all people was MIA, there was a problem. It wasn't like it was a bad addiction like he couldn't put it down, but more of Fear Of Missing Out, or FOMO, and the fact that he loved hanging out with his friends.

Even people Zach didn't play with all that often, like McCreamy and Zuckles and Soup, was concerned. It was obvious something was wrong the minute he didn't chime in to play Among Us.

So currently, waiting in the call was the LA crew, Chromez, Wozenz, Juice, and Simple. It sure seemed like a lot of people but it was scarily quiet.

Everyone jumped at the sound of someone joining the call, eagerly looking to see who. It was no surprise that the call burst into shouts and questions when said person was none other than _Foxy_ himself.

"Quiet!" Tuxy found himself shouting, immediately reducing the loud noises to practically nothing. Zach's camera was slowly loading, a result of the bad internet connection that day.

"Uhm..." An unfamiliar voice came through the speakers, causing everyone to do a double-take.

"Yo, what's going on? We can't see anything."

"It's... it's not Zach." The call went silent as the camera finally turned on, revealing two boys; one blond, one brunet, in Zach's room. The blonde was very well built, wearing a tank top and sweatpants. He looked as if he hadn't gotten much sleep the past few days as well. The brunet was built, although he was noticeably lankier than the one in the back. He was wearing a button-down and black jeans, looking suitably more presentable if it wasn't for the tousled hair and wrinkled clothing.

"You're his bandmates..." Another Discord ping, and another, and another came through the speakers.

"Foxy- oh..." Fitz and Swagger, Dooo, and Droid all joined the server's main voice channel, happy and worried to see their friend's name, only to see it wasn't him.

"Yeah... we're Zach's bandmates." Corbyn bit his lip, voice raspy from crying.

"What happened?" Simple was the only one calm enough to ask the question, although he was still terrified.

"He's in the hospital." As soon as he said the word hospital, it was like a bomb of voices blew up, and no one could understand each other. Simple held up an airhorn, turning up his gain and blowing it into the microphone, silencing everyone.

"Let him explain." Pezzy tried to help take control of the situation and calm everyone down. Corbyn and Daniel exchanged looks, wondering who were these 12 people in the call and why Zach would ask them to call them.

"Zach was ambushed and mugged on the streets at around 9 PM, Friday night. He was alone and left for dead." It was now Monday. Three days and they knew nothing.

"He's not..." No one wants to ask, but it was a question they all needed an answer to.

"No! No... he... he's awake and talking, has been since Saturday afternoon. He was unconscious for around twenty hours. He suffered a dislocated shoulder, a mild concussion, and two stab wounds to the stomach." The call was filled with a terrifying silence, no one knowing what to say. "He's just... Zach's very strong mentally... but something like that..."

"He's traumatized," Fitz murmured under his breath, the microphone barely picking it up.

"Yeah. His claustrophobia is back worse than ever, but he seems to be comfortable around the people he trusts the most. Jack and our manager Jon are with him right now. Jonah's picking up food."

"Um... Corbyn, is it?" The brunet nods, a bit confused as to how Jesse knew his name. "Zach talks about you guys sometimes. Would it uh... would it be alright if we visited him?"

Again, the pair exchanged looks, having a silent conversation with their eyes. "How do you know Zach?"

"We accidentally added his number to our group chat instead of Pezzy," The African American man on the left gestured to the gangly one next to him, watching as he nodded. "We started talking and playing games together. He became a friend to everyone here and more. This is only about half of us."

"He's one of the sweetest people we know."

"And one of the most talented!" A bunch of people began chiming in, showing how much they care about Zach to his untrusting bandmates.

"The point is, we care about him. Chromez hasn't slept in almost two days because he's been so worried about the kid. Those two are best friends. Jesse, Pezzy, and Grizzy almost broke into his apartment. Dooo checked the studio." Wozenz spoke up, the emotion in his voice evident and tears were in his eyes.

"We all would've come... we were just hoping he broke his phone or something...we can barely afford a ticket as it is." The rest of the non-Los Angeles residents nodded their heads in agreement with Juice's statement.

"Do all of you live in LA?" Everyone except for one out of the eight cameras had nodded their head.

"Swagger and I live in Melbourne."

"Denmark."

"Netherlands."

"Warsaw, Poland."

"London."

"Good 'ol Texas."

"Missouri."

Daniel and Corbyn were shocked at all the different locations these friends came from, and even more so that Zach was friends with all of them and then some. But, they could tell that they all cared immensely for their little brother.

The bandmates muted for a minute, quietly but passionately discussing something.

"I'll send my number." Corbyn eventually sighed, typing on the keyboard. "Uh... Chromez, was it?" The tired male looked up at his camera, nodding slightly, not even realizing a tear had fallen down his cheek. "You might wanna pack your bags?"

Chromez looked taken aback, not sure what to say in response except for, "What?"

"We're booking you a flight to LA."

"You... oh my God. Are you serious?"

"Mhm. You fly out at 6 am on the 26th out of Warsaw Chopin Airport. You'll have a layover in Amsterdam before getting on the plane to LA. You'll get here pretty much the same day and you're here till the 2nd.

"Holy shit- I- thank you."

"You seem like a good guy and Zach has mentioned you once or twice in passing. We figured there was something underneath. Just don't disappoint."

"No way in hell."

\--- --- ---

**Friday, December 26th**   
**Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)**

**_three (3) new messages  
_ ** _**chromez (zach's friend)  
** _

_hey man  
_

_just landed in lax  
_

_what does your car look like_

_\--- --- ---_

**_corbyn besson_ ** _: bmw i8, black_   
_licence: 7RXT485_

**_chromez (zach's friend)_ ** _: see you_

Chromez quickly reached the car, knocking on the driver's side to get Corbyn's attention. The brunet unlocked the doors, hopping out to help fit his luggage in the trunk.

"Daniel and I felt horrible not having anything too big to give him for Christmas. He's getting better with touch though, but he doesn't initiate anything with us. We like to ask him before touching him." Corbyn let out a heavy sigh, biting his lip with guilt.

"I'm sure he'll understand about the gift." Corbyn nodded, slightly more reassured. "Hey, Corbyn? I just... I wanted to thank you for this. This was probably the best present I could've gotten, and it wasn't even meant for me."

"No, no it was." When Chromez looked at the brunet strangely, he elaborated. "You were worried out of your mind thousands of miles away. You obviously care about him. As much as Dani and I were doing this for Zach, it's also for you."

"Thank you..."

\--- --- ---

**Jack's House**   
**Hollywood Hills, California**

"Zach! Where are you?" Corbyn called into the house before entering, not wanting to ruin the surprise so early.

"Jack's room!" The muffled shout came from across the large house and Corbyn snuck Chromez in the front door, motioning him towards the kitchen.

Jack and Jonah were standing there, eating and chatting about music before freezing at the sight of the stranger.

"Who the-"

"Zach's Christmas present."

"What did you get him, a stripper or something?" Jack jokingly snarked, but also slightly serious, as it was a strange, handsome male in his house, who didn't have any bags, who was Zach's Christmas present, who was their very bisexual bandmate.

"What! No!" Corbyn looked scandalized at the question, glancing between Chromez, who was now very amused, and Jack and Jonah, who were confused.

"I mean... Jesse forced me to do a pole dancing class with him in Boston last year so I _could_ but-"

"No!" Corbyn's voice was getting more higher-pitched as he spoke, about to slap a hand over Chromez mouth.

"He asked."

"I did do that."

Corbyn grumbled something under his breath, wanting to already strangle them. "Jack, Jonah, this is uh... this is Chromez."

"You sure he isn't a stripper? That name of his-" Jack had on a smirk now, loving the reaction he was getting out of his embarrassed bandmate.

"Yes! This is Jonah and that retard is Jack." Jonah shook Chromez hand, not exactly sure of the vibe he got. Chromez also shook Jack's hand with a grin, already liking his humor.

"I'm a friend of Zach's."

"So this is what you and Dani were working on?" Corbyn nodded, smiling slightly. "Is he foreign or something?"

"Uhh... I'm like an internet friend of his from Poland. We've become pretty close over the past couple of months."

"I'll explain more after Zach sees." Corbyn grabbed the camera Chromez had placed on the counter, turning it on. "He's with Daniel?" Jonah nodded, the group walking up the stairs towards Jack's bedroom/studio, beginning to record.

"Yo Zach." Corbyn knocked on the door, listening for a response.

"Yeah?" Corbyn opened the door, making sure Chromez couldn't be seen in the doorway. Zach turned around, furrowing his eyebrows at the camera. "Uh... what is that for?"

"Your Christmas present came." Corbyn had on a smile that made Zach feel uneasy, especially with the camera.

"Uh... where is it?" He let out an uncomfortable laugh, clutching at his partially healed side wound.

"Right here." Corbyn gestured for Chromez to move into Zach's view, making sure the camera was recording.

As soon as Zach recognized the tall figure in the doorway, he looked as though he had seen a ghost. Zach just froze, a mess of emotions flying across his face.

"Oh my God." Tears began filling up in his eyes as Chromez stepped a little bit closer, his breathing irregular. When he finally snapped out of it, Zach rushed towards Chromez, hugging him tightly.

Daniel moved towards the doorway where everyone else was, smiling softly at the emotional meeting.

"How? How is..." Chromez buried his face into Zach's hair, the widest of grins of his face. "I can't believe you're here." He could feel the smaller boy shaking underneath him, surprised he wasn't panicking as much as he thought he would.

Chromez was a few inches taller than Zach, so the younger boy's forehead reached Chromez's chin, but the rest of the band couldn't see the reaction on his face.

"How are you here?" Zach moved his arms so they hung around Chromez's neck, standing on his toes slightly to not be uncomfortable.

"When you went MIA on us, you told Daniel and Corbyn to let everyone know what had happened," Zach hung his head, burying his face into the crook of Chromez's neck. "When they saw how much we... how much _I_ was affected by your disappearance, they bought me a ticket to LA."

"I'm sorry I scared you Chromezy." He almost cooed at the nickname, knowing Zach didn't usually show affection like that.

"It's okay. It's okay." Zach broke off the hug, stepping away from Chromez with a happy, tear-filled laugh. He wiped away the tears, hugging Corbyn and Daniel with all his possible strength, an overflow of "thank you's" spilling from his mouth.

"Does anyone else know you're here?"

"Most of them know I was coming today, but I haven't told them I'm actually here yet." Chromez smiled, having never been more happy in his life than to meet this crazy kid. "God, I am so happy to meet you!" He lifted Zach up slightly, making the young boy let out a high pitched noise of excitement, cheeks flushing red.

Chromez laughed at him, causing him to somehow flush even more. "You're adorable." He let out a squeak, ducking his head even more.

The boys' hearts warmed at the scene, although they were slightly confused. Zach hadn't acted this way for years, and especially after the mugging. When he had first joined the band, Zach was very introverted and shy. Any compliments caused him to blush bright red and fall into his headspace of safety.

After years of performing, Zach became more outgoing, more talkative, and less reactive to compliments like that. Of course, he was grateful, but he no longer got so embarrassed at just one simple compliment.

"Go have fun, Zach. You deserve it." Daniel's voice made Zach look over at the doorway, the happiest of grins on his face. Zach looked over and nodded, not exactly sure what to say.

"Let's go surprise the boys."

\--- --- ---

Zach knocked on the apartment door, practically bouncing on his toes as he impatiently waited for someone to answer. He knocked again, blushing at Chromez's chuckle.

"Calm your tits, jeez, I'm coming." Grizzy's annoyed voice could be heard through the door and they both laughed, knowing Grizzy doesn't like getting interrupted. The door quickly swung open, startling the both of them.

"Hey Zach, hey Chro- Chromez!" Grizzy's eyes widened as he saw the lanky gamer behind his friend, hugging both of them. "Come in! Hey Pezzy, Jesse, Tuxy. Look who made it!"

The pair walked into the apartment to see the three other YouTubers peeking their heads out of their rooms, each equally as surprised and happy to see Chromez.

Everyone greeted each other, bro hugs and fist bumps, although they were carefully to stay away from Zach's bandaged abdomen.

"Zach, I meant to talk to you, by the way." Grizzy tapped his shoulder, causing Zach to whip around nervously, still anxiety-ridden from the mugging. "Sorry, man..."

"No, it's... it's alright, Griz. What's up?"

"Has Fitz talked to you about what's going on at MEO in September?"Zach shook his head, visibly confused by the question. "Ah, you were probably uh... in the hospital." He got quiet towards the end, most likely nervous to bring it up.

"What's going on, Grizzy?"

"Basically Fitz and the rest of Misfits are ambassadors and were invited to host a panel and meet and greet and were allowed to bring three guests on there."

Zach raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering where this was going. "Basically, me, you, and Racc were invited to join them."

Grizzy watched the brunet's facial expressions, watching as genuine surprise came over him. "I... me? Why me? I understand you and Racc, but why not Smii7y or Kyroz or someone?"

"Zach, they like you. They think you're awesome and you're their friend, as well as mine."

"But-"

"No buts. Accept the invite and accept you're an incredible creator. People love you for your comedy and for who you are. You're so genuine and people can see that in your videos as well as everyone else's." Zach's cheeks flushed pink slightly, although he smiled to himself.

"Alright." Grizzy clapped his shoulder, a wide smile.

"Awesome, man. Also... you may want to get a mask." When Zach looked at him strangely, Grizzy was forced to clarify. "Y'know, like... to hide your identity."

Zach's lips formed a small "o" shape, realizing Grizzy was right. "Shit. Where am I even going to find one?"

"Talk to Racc or Swagger. They both wear masks. I'd say ask Dooo but he doesn't even show his head." Zach nodded in agreement, pulling out his phone, making Grizzy laugh.

"I'll let Jon know about the plans."  
  
"Hell yeah."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im not gonna lie- i posted this 3 days ago on wattpad and completely forgot to do it on here so here you go :)  
> probably wont do another chapter till after christmas  
> merry christmas/happy holidays to everyone  
> much love,  
> cc

**_january 11th, 2021_ **

**_a couple of cunts and some american wankers_ **

_zach herron (foxy)_  
_ezra rendito (raccooneggs)_  
_nelson james (grizzy)_  
_cam chissen (fitz)_  
_matt moriarty (iNoToRiOuS)_  
_jay baker (mccreamy)_  
_mason brown (zuckles)_  
_eric petrov (swaggersouls)_  
_tobi annalia (tobyonthetele)_

**_cam chissen (fitz)_ ** _: yall better not cancel for meo_  
_also zach what's the deal with your tour/manager_

**_matt moriarty (iNoToRiOuS)_ ** _: zach dont you dare say you can't come_

**_ezra rendito (raccooneggs)_ ** _: i will fly to la to beat your ass_  
_don't think i wont_

**_nelson james (grizzy)_ ** _: and i will join you because i know where he lives :)_

**_zach herron (foxy)_ ** _: fuck you all :D_  
_racc you may be tall but i'll wipe the floor with your skinny lookin ass_

**_ezra rendito (raccooneggs)_ ** _: try me bitchass_

**_tobi annalia (tobyonthetele)_ ** _: you guys are children_  
_apologize >:(_

**_zach herron (foxy)_ ** _: sorry dad_

**_ezra rendito (raccooneggs)_ ** _: no fuck you_

**_zach herron (foxy)_ ** _: but my manager did clear it and with sam and ryan's contacts the people at meo agreed to sign a similar contract to that they have with swagger and racc so i should be all good to go_

**_cam chissen (fitz)_ ** _: fuck yeah_

**_nelson james (grizzy)_ ** _: god imagine pax aus. i cant wait to go_

**_zach herron (foxy)_ ** _: when is pax aus and east again?_

**_matt moriarty (iNoToRiOuS)_ ** _: aus is november 15th this year i believe, no clue when east is_

**_nelson james (grizzy)_ ** _: dec 28/29_

**_tobi annalia (tobyonthetele)_ ** _: i cant wait to meet youuuuu_

**_zach herron (foxy)_** _: bes frennnn_ 🥺  
_aight i have to go do some exploring and shit with s &c and jesse so i'll see y'all later_  
_bye whores_

**_cam chissen (fitz)_ ** _: fuck you too_

**_zach herron (foxy)_** _:_ 😘

_—- —- —-_

**_zach's apartment_ **  
**_los angeles_ **  
**_6:23 am_ **

"Oi! Open the bloody door!" Jesse's obnoxious voice rang through the apartment, Zach scrambling to put a towel around his waist as he slipped out of the shower, falling flat onto his back.

He groaned, mumbling curses under his breath as he slowly picked himself off the floor and was careful not to crash onto the hardwood floors again, opening the door in a way in which he couldn't be seen.

"You fucking wanker. I fell out of the shower because of you." Jesse laughed his little deep chuckle as he walked in, adjusting his earring slightly, glancing Zach up and down with a raised eyebrow.

The older boy's cheeks flushed scarlet and he stormed off to his bedroom, making sure to lock the door behind him.

Zach put on a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt, paired with a purple "No-Name" hoodie that Jake had given him for his 19th birthday, alongside a couple of chains. He slipped on a pair of black combat boots, similar to the ones he wore on Halloween, and put on a chain belt and two chain necklaces. He slipped on a few rings, flexing his fingers.

Honestly, ever since meeting Jake, Zach's style had gotten more grungy. He always had that street and dressy vibe to his outfits, but Jake brought out the more badass in him, as did Jesse.

He stepped out of his bedroom to find Jesse having taken refuge on his couch, watching one of Zach's YouTube videos on the TV, which featured himself, Jesse, Chromez, McNasty, and Dooo all playing Siege together.

They were all laughing at something stupid Zach had said, and Jesse responded with a cheeky, flirtatious comment. Zach tended to flirt and be a genuine smooth talker when he was joking, but when it came to real life, the young boy got extremely flustered.

"Alright, Jess, let's go." Zach clapped the taller man on the shoulder, watching as he stood up. Jesse was oddly tall, so whenever he stood next to Zach, the elder always felt small.

The young Australian wore a black drop shoulder sweater and black jeans as well as chain necklaces and other accessories. Zach certainly admired Jesse's sense of style and how he could be so laid back and still look hot.

Zach would be lying if he said he didn't find Jesse attractive, but that didn't mean he wanted to date him. Jesse was an awesome guy and an amazing best friend. Zach wouldn't change that for the world.

Zach grabbed his backpack, double-checking to make sure he had everything he needed. Flashlight, extra batteries, a knife, water bottles, snacks, a lighter, and salt. Everything they supposedly needed for a trip to the Witches Forest with Sam and Colby, Corey, and Jake.

Jesse locked the door behind them as they headed downstairs to the parking garage towards Zach's McLaren.

They were taking Zach's car to the Traphouse before taking a rental car that would be able to hold all 6 of them. Colby's car could only fit five, same as everyone else except for Jake, Corey, and Zach, due to the fact they all have sports cars.

"Can we listen to some of your playlists?" Jesse asked as he climbed into the sleek white car, adjusting the seat to his height.

"Yeah sure." Zach connected his Spotify to the car, tossing Jesse the phone. There was no need to tell him the password, he already knew it. The opening chords to "Shake It Like A Polaroid" played, making Jesse lean back in his seat and close his eyes, yawning exhaustedly.

It was almost 6:45 when they started driving and in total it took about 15 minutes to get to the Traphouse, which is when they were told to get there. They didn't know much about all that was happening, except that around a year and a half ago, Sam, Colby, Jake, and Corey all went to the Stanley Hotel and they met a Kansas born actress named Jennifer. Jennifer had told them that her grandfather owned a cabin in a place called Witches Forest and that it was heavily haunted.

It took a while to decide whether to go or not with how busy their schedules were and everything, but Zach finally was able to let Jon give him Friday and the weekend off. He recorded his vocals in the studio earlier that week so he was granted the extra time.

Sam and Jake were the only ones awake at that time. Jake didn't seem like it, but he liked the mornings. He always woke up early and stuck to the same routine, almost as a comfort thing. He opened the door, brown hair fluffy as always and giving him a messy emo vibe with the way it hung by his eyes.

"Hey." Jake hugged Zach, then Jesse, before walking back into the kitchen where Colby was passed out on the table next to Corey who was blearily trying to blink his eyes awake. Their main vlog camera was set up on the counter, the blinking red light indicating it was recording.

"Hey Colby, Corey, Sam." Zach waved at everyone, deciding to help Sam finish making breakfast for everyone else. "Jesse, have you eaten yet? The dark-haired man shook his head, sitting down at the table, and placing his head on his arms, shutting his eyes. Zach rolled his eyes at his friends, watching as Jake poured out orange juice and apple juice.

Everyone quickly ate the scrambled eggs and bacon that Sam and Zach made, still sluggishly moving about the room. Jake had left to get the rental car, coming back with a two-year-old Ford Explorer.

Colby was wearing a two design loose button-down, one side purple grid, the other a black grid, as well as black jeans and a belt. A black "XPLR" beanie and a few rings also accessorized the outfit. Corey had just put on a bucket hat, loose pants, and a custom "Yeroc" sweatshirt from a collection that was going to go out soon. Sam wore a yellow 1/4 zip sweater and ripped jeans as well as a necklace. Jake had on a "No Name" sweatshirt, the same design as Zach's except it was orange and black ripped jeans and a couple of chains.

They all had on "XPLR" backpacks that held everything they needed for the night as well as a tent and sleeping bags. They got a large tent that could fit around 8 people, and since everyone there was tall, minus Zach, it should fit them.

Finally, after practically tossing Colby into the car, they were ready to leave.

\--- --- ---

After almost getting into a car crash and dying in the fog on the way up the mountain, the group finally made it to the witch's cabin, nervous to get out of the car.

"Okay, you all are being pussies, let's go." Jesse hopped out of the car, Zach and Jake quickly following, Sam, Colby, and Corey not far behind.

"Fuck you too, Jesse," Corey shouted at the retreating Aussie, watching as Zach, Jake, and Jesse all flipped him off in sync. "Oh screw off."

Colby pushed to the front of the group, knocking on the door while biting his lip, clearly nervous they were about to get murdered. Sam was holding the camera, filming the group.

The wooden door opened, revealing a semi-young, skinny woman with dark brown eyes and almost black hair. "Hey, I'm Maria." Maria shook everyone's hand. She looked to be in her late 20s or her early 30s.

The boys introduced themselves and she let them into the house, asking permission to sage them.

"Have any of you been saged before?" Sam and Colby had been saged once or twice, but for the rest of the boys, this was a new experience.

"What exactly does saging do?" Zach spoke up, his voice quiet but curious.

"In simplest terms, it helps clear any negative energies that are being brought into my home." Zach smiled softly at the woman as she finished saging everyone in the room, leading them to her dining room table where an assortment of items lay there.

After getting a bit of history on Jennifer's cabin, Maria's cabin, and the forest, the group of 6 was about to leave to set up camp when they got an offer for a tarot reading. They were definitely interested and maybe even a little bit excited about what their results would be, but they definitely didn't meet their expectations.

**_The Tower_ ** _: Chaos, Crisis, Danger, Destruction_

**_The Nine of Swords_ ** _: Mental, Suffering, All in your head, Anxiety_

**_Death_ ** _: The end of an era, A new beginning_

So, needless to say, they were a bit freaked out, especially Corey, who tended to freak out more than the others.

"Zach, forgive me for asking this but how have you been feeling recently... psychologically." The brunet's eyes hardened as he looked at Maria, tensing slightly.

"I'm sorry?" Zach's body relaxed as a hand came into contact with his back. The lady sighed, pulling out the tarot cards once more, saging them, and handed them to Zach, who took them hesitantly.

"What am I-"

"Would you mind shuffling them?" He cast a wary eye upon her but did as she asked, carefully shuffling the cards, wondering why she was asking all these things. Zach handed the deck back to Maria, glancing at the rest of the boys, who all shrugged confusedly.

When she pulled the top three cards, Zach faltered, understanding that she was reading him.

_The Sun... The Nine of Swords... Temperance._

"What does that mean?" Zach's voice was calm and even as he maintained eye contact with Maria, waiting for her response.

The dark-haired woman paused, looking at the boy as if she was trying to read his expression, but failed miserably.

"Typically, the Sun represents positivity and happiness, although when turned upside, can create an opposite meaning. Negativity, sadness, etcetera. It really goes in hand with the rest of your cards." She bit her lip as she moved to the next card, barely glancing up.

"The Nine of Swords. Again, anxiety and being stuck in your head. This also brings us to Temperance. This card also being reversed means a lack of balance, which coincides with the other cards."

"Why are you telling me this?" Zach's voice was quiet as he stared down at the cards, not wanting to look at the expressions on his friend's faces.

"Your aura." Zach raised an eyebrow, finally making eye contact once more.

"My what?"

"Your spiritual energy with your mentality. While your friends here have very distinct and relatively bright colors, your aura is leaning more towards dark and messy." Zach went silent, not saying a word. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable or upset in any way."

When Zach still didn't speak, Sam chimed in, taking charge of the situation again. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us. It's been a pleasure meeting you." He shook Maria's hand, the rest of the group following, including Zach.

When they had hopped back in the car, no one wanted to talk about the tarot readings, either of them. As they continued to drive up the mountain, quiet music playing in the background. Jake was sleeping... again. Colby was driving, Sam alongside him in the passenger seat. Corey was staring out the window towards to fog while Jesse and Zach sat in the back row, conversing quietly.

"She wasn't wrong, y'know." Jesse's voice was hushed, knowing Zach probably didn't want anyone hearing their conversation.

"Can you see my aura too now?" His voice wasn't exactly rude, just... pondering.

"You've been stressed, Zach. And I know you're confused and shit. I know how you feel, man. But you need to talk to someone. The longer you bottle this up, the worse it's going to get." Zach turned to Jesse, barely making eye contact.

"I've tried, Jess. To you, to Grizzy, to Chromez, to everyone. But it's not working."

"I know... and we want to help you." Jesse wrapped his arm around Zach, tugging him across the seats so he could hug him. Zach didn't fight it, he just let Jesse hug him, leaning into the taller man's body.

Jesse could practically feel the anxiety rolling off his best friend, his body practically trembling. "You're okay... you're okay." Silent minutes passed, only the low noises of the gravel beneath the car were heard.

Jesse and Zach both fell asleep, a habit of theirs whenever they were together. They always felt comfortable enough in each other's presence to sleep by each other, like during Sam and Colby's Halloween party as well as when Chromez came to visit.

The Traphouse left them to rest, taking a couple of pictures to post on their private stories with their close friends and family, before getting started on pitching the tent. It took around fifteen minutes in total, and they were definitely proud of it.

After a couple of minutes, Zach woke up, jostling Jesse awake lightly.

"Fuck off, cunt." Jesse mumbled, attempting to turn over but to no avail. Zach lightly slapped the back of his head, raising an eyebrow as the Australian let out an exaggerated groan of pain.

"Let's go. The tent is probably set up and shit so you can sleep in there." It was only then that they realized how goddamned cold it was.

Jesse and Zach made their way to the tent with their bags, confused as to how it was slightly warmer inside than outside. Seeing Zach's confused look, Colby explained that they placed a layer of blankets on the outside of the tent underneath the cover to preserve the warmth.

It was quickly turning dark in the wood and the group began to open up their sleeping bags, somehow already tired from their day although it was only five in the evening.

"Are we still doing that cleansing ritual?" Jake's voice was a mumble from his pillow, already half-asleep like everyone else, except for Sam of course, who seemed to never get tired.

"Yeah, once it gets dark. We can sleep for a bit."

And so they did, almost immediately blacking out as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

\--- --- ---

It was past 11 PM when Zach woke up to yelling, having slept a decent amount anyway.

"I'm telling you, Sam! I don't like this!" Corey was clutching his phone tightly in his hand, staring wide-eyed at Sam. Jake and Jesse were already wide-awake, silently watching the argument.

Colby still hadn't stirred, mostly due to the fact that he was an incredibly heavy sleeper and that barely any outside noises would be able to wake them.

The phone began to ring, making Corey toss it across the tent putting his head in his hands with a loud groan.

"Wha-"

"Corey keeps getting phone calls from a No Caller ID number," Jake explained gravelly, barely glancing over at the teenager. "It's the same thing that has been happening for months."

"I thought we didn't get service out here?"

"We don't."

"Oh." Zach could definitely see where Corey was coming from, although he wouldn't get that freaked out. Then again, he didn't have Corey's past experiences.

"He wants to go home." This time Jesse spoke up, still watching Sam try and calm Corey down.

"Listen, they're just phone calls. What else could it be?"

"I don't know, man! That's why I'm freaking out!"

"Corey, we are already here. We promised you no Seances or other voodoo shit!" The pair fell silent, not wanting to fight with each other. Corey knew Sam was right, and he _did_ agree to come today.

"Fine."

"Guys, we're together, and we're safe. As long as we stick by each other, we should be fine." Zach spoke quietly, not wanting to hear more yelling tonight. "How about we go outside-"

"Are you insane?"

"-and light the fire. Animals don't like fire so we should be safe." He shot a small glare towards Corey for interrupting him, who weakly looked down. "We can do the ritual, and then we can play some games and have a little fun before morning, sounds good?"

Everyone agreed with Zach's statement. Sam started to gather up the stuff for the fire while Corey woke Colby up, the dark-haired man groaning groggily.

"What time is it?"

"11:42, brother," Jake responded, glancing down at his silent phone. "We're gonna do the ritual." Colby sat up, stretching his back, which grossly made a cracking noise.

"God, sleeping on this terrain tonight is going to be absolute hell, man. I'm not going to be able to move in the morning."

There were a few grumbled agreements as they made their way out of the large tent, Colby taking charge in creating the fire, having the most experience.

It took a couple of tries and a whole lot of playful banter till the fire was actually lit, but soon enough it was blazing and illuminating the entire area.

"Hell yeah!"

"So Sam, what exactly is this ritual?" Jesse spoke up, leaning back in his chair slightly. Zach was in the middle of him and Jake, who was currently chomping on some gummi bears.

"It's basically a cleansing ritual to help clear us of any past spirits that may be haunting us. Now you and Zach haven't been on that many explorations with us, but it's always good to be cautious. It is why we asked you guys to bring a personal object or something that has been haunting you."

"We're going to burn those items? Burning a Ouija board isn't going to make it go away, it'll only make it worse!" Corey tried to protest, but Sam stood his ground.

"So it may be a bit weird that I brought this?" Colby sheepishly pulled out a large cardboard cutout of his face from many years ago, a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Sam's voice raised an octave as he stared at his best friend's old Justin Beiber swoosh hairstyle.

"This has been haunting me for years so-" They all burst into laughter, rolling their eyes. Colby ripped a piece off the chin because the thing was so big it wouldn't fit in the fire in one piece.

Corey brought an XPLR sticker and Sam had a key card to the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Jake brought a Shrek VHS tape, claiming it was the reason for his first eviction notice.

Zach had brought an old picture of him and his ex-best friend, the one that had outed him all those years ago.

Jesse brought one of Wozenz's socks that he accidentally took home after PAX and he always forgot to throw it out.

It was silent for the first few seconds after they had tossed the items into the fire, and then hell broke loose.

Colby flew backward out of his chair was a gasp, scrambling away, pointing at nothing in the darkness. "Sam! Sam! Look, look! There was a shadow back there! Behind Jake! I swear to God!" Colby was flipped out, pointing into the dark abyss, chaos erupting.

Colby managed to convince Jesse and Corey to stay at the fire while Zach, Sam, and Jake all began searching for whatever could've been there. Colby quickly began running down the path, Sam and Jake yelling at him to slow down and wait, but it seemed as though he couldn't hear them.

"I'm going after Colby!" Zach sprinted down the dark path, trying to spot the little amount of light that was Colby's lantern."Colby! Slow the fuck down!"

Sam and Jake began screaming about something... a baby? But Zach couldn't let Colby be alone and lost in the woods. "Colby! Stop! Wait up!" Zach ran towards the light, finally catching up when he tripped over a tree root, flying through the air and hitting the ground roughly, vision going dark.

\--- --- ---

witches forest  
the campsite  
jesse, corey, jake, sam  
fifteen minutes later

"We have to go look for them! We don't even know if Zach found Colby! They could've gotten separated!" Corey was yelling at Sam and Jake, flipping out at the fact that their best friends were lost in the woods.

"What do we do?" Jake's voice was small and unsure, something that was extremely out of character for the talkative boy.

"We need to look for them!" Sam was also freaking out that they were both out there and could be seriously injured.

Corey quickly spoke up again, still panicking. "You take Jesse and go look for him, _together_. Jake and I will try and spread around all the light we can." Sam rushed away with Jesse, lantern swinging madly between them as they ran, panting heavily.

"Colby! Zach!" Sam paused in his yells before letting out a loud final call for his best friend. "COLBY!" Jesse grabbed Sam's arm.

"Dude, we don't want to wake up the entire forest. We might be waking up a ton of animals." Sam nodded silently in agreement, staring off into the darkness.

"What if they're hurt..." Sam trailed off, his voice coming out quiet and shaky.

"That's why we need to look for them. They'll be okay, Sam. I know Zach can take care of himself." The blonde nodded in agreement to the Aussie's words, the pair walking further down the path.

_meanwhile..._

"Sam? Zach? Jake?" Colby spun around in a circle, only just realizing that his friends and roommates weren't behind him.

He was alone. In the dark. In an animal-infested, haunted forest.

Fuck.

He vaguely remembered Zach chasing after him, Sam and Jake not far behind him. But if Zach was the only one that followed him...

"Shit." Colby took off sprinting back down the path, calling out Zach's name repeatedly. After running for two minutes, he began to get more and more worried as he ran, freezing when he saw a small figure ahead, curled up on the dirt, motionless. "Zach?"

"Oh my god, Zach." He crouched over the figure, carefully grabbing the thin wrist, sighing in relief when a strong, healthy pulse could be found. Colby gently shook the boy's shoulder, eliciting a groan from him.

"Colby?" The elder man helped him stand up, brushing the dust and dirt off his dark clothing. Zach had a few bruises and scratches on the left side of his body from when he fell, wincing softly when he ran his fingers over them. "Are you okay?"

"Am _I_ okay? Zach, I found you unconsious in the middle of the woods! What happened?" In the bright light of the lantern, Colby could see Zach's cheeks flare up as he mumbled out an incoherent answer, Colby asking him to repeat it.

"Tripped on a fuckin' tree root." Colby sighed, rubbing his hand over his face.

"Let's get back to camp." After about ten minutes of walking, they finally began to see a glimpse of light in the distance.

"Hello?"

"Zach! Colby! Is that you?" The voice was faint, but recognizable. Colby and Zach immediately looked at each other and bolted towards the sound, lantern swinging wildly.

"It's us!"

Colby immediately got bombarded by the rest of the Traphouse while Jesse checked out Zach, pulling him into a giant bear hug.

"You're okay... you're okay." Those words seemed to be a common theme of the night with how often they had been said. "What happened to your cheek?"

Jesse's thumb brushed over the scratches and bruises, pulling back when the brunet winced.

"Tripped on a tree root. I'm okay... just tired from running and anxiety and shit."

"C'mon, Zay. Let's sleep."


	14. Chapter 14

"What's got you so hyped up?" Jack looked at his hyperactive best friend who was currently bouncing his knee, almost squirming in his seat. "I mean, you were always excited for Texas but that's because your family lived here at the time."

"Meeting some friends of mine."

"Like your stripper friend?"

"Yeah- wait what?" Jack burst into laughter as Zach's shocked face, watching the mix of emotions.

"When I first met him I thought Corbyn and Daniel had gotten you a stripper for Christmas." Zach's bright brown eyes widened comically, cheeks flushing red.

"He did do that!" Corbyn's voice shouted from the back; him, Daniel, and Jonah being in the makeshift studio they had in the back room.

Zach rolled his eyes, forcing his knee to stop bouncing.

"How did you meet these guys anyways?"

Zach looked over at Jack, running a hand through his hair. "Remember that group of people I said added me to that group chat?" Jack nodded, leaning forward slightly to grab his phone. "That's them."

"Shit, really?"

"Yeah. We met up on Discord that night I told you about them and stayed on for a couple of hours. Once I grew comfortable with them, I decided to hang out in a voice channel to see who would join and that's when I became friends with everyone else."

"That's awesome, man. I'm glad you've found some more friends, even if they aren't based in LA." Jack smiled at the younger boy, staring at his rosy cheeks.

"Thanks..." A buzzing from his phone made him look down, staring at the new notification.

one new message from chromez🐢

yoooo you're meeting the guys today right

—- —- —-

zach: i'm scared

what if they don't like me🥺

what if i mess up

chromez🐢: zay, listen to me

they love you, okay?

you're not going to mess up...

what's going on, foxy? you weren't like this meeting dooo

zach: idk... maybe because he surprised me? in the moment? or because we have similar interests?

i don't know chromez...

chromez: you're gonna do great

zach: also did jack actually think you were a stripper?

chromez: i mean... i think so

did you want me to be?

zach: chromez no-

chromez: i could if you really wanted

zach: chromez im-

chromez: i do actually know how to pole dance

zach: dgftyfugihojpokojihugfds

chromez: jesse and i did it together

wait...

zach: im sORRY?

chromez: no i didnt mean-

zach

zach nO

zach: im dialing 911

i think im having a heart attack

chromez: zACHARY NO

read at 13:02

\--- --- ---

\--- --- ---

Zach laughed quietly to himself, shutting off his phone as he left Chromez on read.

He jumped in surprise when the bus came to a halt, the breaks hissing as they came to their destination. "We're already here?"

Jon boarded the bus, clapping his hands with a smile on his face. "Wake up boys! It's showtime!" Something flew out of the bunks, barely missing Jon's head.

Blauwtje.

"Wow, that's so rude. I'm kidnapping your bear now." Zach grabbed the worn-out teddy bear off the floor and clutched it in his arm, laughing as Corbyn screamed "no!"

"My bear!"

"No!" Zach chuckled, watching as his dark hair friend tumbled out of the bunk, ready to pounce on the youngest. "Gimme him back!"

"You threw him!"

"He's mine!"

"You threw him!"

"Boys!" Jonah's and Jon's voices both melded together as they stared at the scene. Corbyn took the distraction to his advantage, stealing the small blue bear out of Zach's loosened grip. The smaller boy pouted, crossing his arms as his cheeks pinkened the slightest bit.

Daniel appeared from his bunk as well, blond hair bedridden, almost covering his eyes with how long it was. "It's past noon and I'm way too hungover holy shit."

Zach chuckled under his breath, watching as Daniel shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight peeking its way through the open curtain on the windows.

Daniel, Jonah, and Corbyn had gone out the night before and got some booze so they could get drunk, wanting to have a bit of fun before their first show.

"That's what y'all get for going through two bottles of whatever the fuck you guys drank last night." Zach smiled at the group, his southern accent peaking through for the first time in a while.

"These guys are gonna make you wanna convert back to speakin' all country and shit." Jack mocked the accent, making it very exaggerated. Zach just rolled his eyes, leaning back on the couch.

"Speaking of which, they're picking you up?" Jon asked, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge and shoving it into Daniel's hand, who let out a mumbled "thanks."

"Yeah, they said they'd be here around... 12:30, 12:45ish." Jon nodded his head, wishing the boys a fun day in the city before walking off the bus.

A honk came from outside, making everyone turn their heads towards the window, including Daniel, who was now wearing sunglasses.

Parked outside the tour bus was a black pickup truck with three occupants. Someone popped out of the sunroof, whistling for someone.

"Well, that's my cue. See you tonight." Zach hugged the boys, grabbing his bag and running off the bus, a wide smile on his face.

A tanned-skinned figure hopped out of the truck, embracing Zach in a huge bear hug, practically lifting him off the ground.

He looked to be of Hispanic origin with his tanned skin and slight accent in the way he spoke. The man had dark hair, mainly shaved off but still there.

"Brother!"

Two other figures rounded the side of the pickup truck, joining the hug.

The driver was wide set with a ginger beard and hair pulled back into a ponytail. He was the tallest out of the bunch.

The final passenger was the shortest and baby faced, much like how Zach was. He had a startling similarity to Russell from "Up" and had a genuine smile on his face.

Zach waved to the boys in the bus, hopping in with "Russell" in the backseat of the car, tearing out of the parking lot.

———

"That food was so fucking good." Zach groaned, laying on the floor of Droid's room, eyes closed as he laid down on his stomach.

"I'm tellin' you, brother. That place has the best shit." Droid was on his bed with Geoff while Ash was in Droid's gaming chair, slightly swiveling back and forth as he napped. That man could nap anywhere.

"What time do we have to head back into Austin for your show?" Geoff spoke up, his voice muffled because of the way his head was tucked into his arms.

"Mm... an hour probably. Soundcheck is at 4:30 and you're about 45 minutes from the actual venue. The show starts with our opener at 5:15 and we go on 5:30ish." Zach had a genuine smile on his face, obviously thinking about and loving his job.

"How have you been sleeping, Foxy, by the way?" Droid leaned back against his headboard, shutting his eyes the slightest bit.

"Honestly, I've been better ever since the tour started. I'm glad we have that section of unreleased footage that we can put out while I'm touring. It's a little bit of stress off my shoulders for now." Geoff and Droid nodded their agreement; they had already seen the difference in their friend.

Zach stood taller and looked healthy, his skin glowing a light tan color and his eyes having that mischievous sparkle that they usually do. He dressed in brighter clothes more often and remembered to take care of himself.

Of course, he still had those bad days where Jesse and Grizzy or Pezzy would come over and make sure he ate, drank, and slept so he didn't end up collapsing one day, whether it was in call or on stage.

Compared to how he was a couple of months back in November, he had made so much progress since then, gaining back some weight and gaining that natural rosy color in his cheeks that everyone loved so much.

"Do you ever think you're going to reveal your face?" Zach paused at the question, obviously thinking about it.

"I mean..." He trailed off, biting his bottom lip in the process. "I'd like to. It's just up to Jon. I'm not going to do anything that would risk breaking either of my contracts."

"No, I get that man. But... you've seen your fans. One, don't you think they're going to find out by themselves? And two, will they end up feeling betrayed or lied to?" Geoff leaned his head up slightly, hanging it off the bed to make eye contact with Zach.

"He has a point. Foxy/Zeph is a completely different persona from Zach Herron." Droid had chimed in, the brunet on the floor staring at him warily. "When you're Zach, you're an innocent, bubbly, adorable 19-year-old talented musician. When you're Foxy, you drink, you make immature or dark jokes, and you're a gamer. It's incredible really."

"Now you're scaring me."

"No, no, no! I mean it in a... well, I guess a good way. It isn't necessarily a bad thing... Geoff please stop me." Droid was rambling on, finally shutting up when Geoff hit him in the face with a pillow.

"What this idiot is trying to say is that it's like having a split personality, but you chose to do that almost. You didn't split yourself, you split your life. We are just cautious because none of us realized how this could affect your Limelights."

Zach sat up, leaning against the dark grey wall, bringing his knees up to his chest the slightest bit. "Should I talk to Jon about this?"

"I think you should express your concerns and let him know about this. He knows about In My Blood, right?" They all jumped as Ash spoke up, not realizing he had awoken.

"Jesus Christ, Ash... yeah, yeah he knows about In My Blood." Zach's eyes were conflicted, obviously still thinking about what they said.

"Have you ever thought about releasing it?"

Zach's head shot up, confused as to why he would release a song so personal to him. "Why would I..." He trailed off, realizing the reason.

In My Blood had been with him for years, helping him through some of the worst times he had ever experienced. The song means so much to him, as do the lyrics. They tell a story not just of sadness, but of recovery and growth as well.

"Oh."

"Zeph, I think if your manager lets you, you should release it. It would do a lot for you as well for your fans." The younger brunet looked hesitant, which was to be expected.

"Maybe... just maybe."


	15. Chapter 15

The tension on the bus was high and stress was practically radiating off of everyone. Someone getting sick could seriously affect their tour, even if it was something minor.

They were currently in the parking lot of the venue, waiting to find out what was going to happen tonight. It was probably the largest venue they had ever played, aside from Madison Square Garden, which was around 20,000 people.

"Jon, we can't cancel the show, it's one of the biggest shows we have! Not to mention, it's the last one of the American leg." Jack and Jon were arguing in the next room, the rest of the boys in the front of the bus, silent.

"Jack, stop. You're going to hurt your voice even more."

Yesterday, as the group was driving back down to Los Angeles from San Franciso, Jack had come down with a severe case of laryngitis. His voice quickly diminished in the past 12 hours, and now there were only about 5 hours till the show.

The voices quieted down, not allowing the boys to hear anything.

"Zach!" At the loud, raspy mention of the youngest bandmate, Jonah, Corbyn, Daniel, and Zach's heads all shot in that direction, confusion visible on their faces. After another minute or so of incoherent talking, Jon and Jack reappeared, Jack looking very self-satisfied.

"The show is still on." Jon rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting out a short huff.

"Why was Zach's name yelled?" Corbyn spoke up, his curiosity getting to be a bit too much.

"My main concern for tonight was.... is the Fallin' solo. Jack wants Zach to perform it." The entire bus went silent. Zach went pale, eyes wide.

Jack stepped forward, placing both his hands on Zach's shoulders gently, looking the nervous boy in the eyes. "I _know_ you can do it, Zach. But I need you to believe it yourself."

The brunet nodded, breaking eye contact with Jack and stepping back slightly, feeling claustrophobic. He walked off the bus, grabbing his phone, and a bottle of water before sitting on the curb, head in his hands.

Now, normally, Zach would never be this nervous. Sure, he would be scared to sing Jack's part no matter what. There was a small chance he even was going to be able to hit that note. What made him really freak out was the fact that Pezzy, Tuxy, and Grizzy were all going to be there tonight, watching him from the front VIP box.

Fans were one thing, but his friends? That was a whole other dilemma.

His body moved before his mind and before Zach knew it, Chromez had answered the phone.

"Hey, man. What's up?"

"So you know Jack's really high belt at the end of Fallin'?" Zach's voice was shaky as he gripped the phone tightly, afraid he'd drop it with how bad he was shaking. When Chromez told him that he knew what Zach was talking about, the singer went on. "I have to sing it tonight."

Silence.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too. Chromez... I'm freaking out, I-I... I don't think I can hit it." Zach rubbed a hand over his face, leaning back so he was laying down on the concrete.

"Zach, I know you can do it. Okay? You're going to do amazing." Chromez's voice was steady and careful, knowing he didn't want to increase Zach's risk of an anxiety attack. When the younger boy tried to protest, Chromez cut him off, knowing what he was going to say.

"Unbelievable. In Too Deep. In My Blood." Zach went silent, biting his lip. Chromez could only imagine what was happening 6000 miles away. "Zach... you're incredible, but you have to stop doubting yourself. Quit being afraid." He knew his tone was harsh but that was what Zach needed to hear to get through to him.

"I... thank you, Chromezy."

"You know I'm always here for you, Zeph. No matter what." Zach nodded, laughing slightly when he remembered Chromez couldn't see him. "Listen, I gotta run because I'm streaming with Adam right now, but I will call you later... okay?"

Chromez didn't feel comfortable leaving Zach in this state but he had a job to do. The kid needed to believe in himself, and Chromez wasn't going to be able to help him do it.

"Okay... thank you."

"No problem, Foxy. No problem." Zach hung up the phone, letting out a sigh. He took a deep breath, sipping his water.

"This is going to be a disaster."

\--- --- ---

**_1.5 hours till showtime_ **

"Number 5 just threw up in the bathroom!" A crew member spoke into the walkie-talkie perched on his uniform, placing a hand on the young brunet's shoulder, feeling him shake like a leaf. "Deep breaths, kid. Nice and slow."

Jon and Jack quickly appeared in the doorway, worried expressions on their faces. Jack made his way into the large handicap stall, Jon peering over his shoulder.

He handed Zach a paper towel, watching as he roughly wiped his mouth, a small tear running down his cheek.

"Can we be alone, please?" Jon and the crew member left the room, leaving Jack with an anxiety-ridden Zach Herron, something that wasn't a pretty sight.

Zach didn't get freaked out often, not even when they performed at Jingle Ball when he was only 16. The last time he freaked out like that was when he first woke up at the hospital all those months ago. Granted, it wasn't that long, but it was a while.

"I know you're scared, Zay." Zach laid his head on Jack's shoulder, shutting his eyes as he curled into himself, tired. "I just can't understand why you don't think you can do it. I know you can... why don't you."

"Jack, there's a reason you always take the high notes and insane runs in the songs, or how Daniel and Corbyn can do these amazing falsettos, or how Jonah has this crazy low voice. Your voices are amazing. But like... what is so special about mine?"

Jack's face fell at the younger's words, knowing that what Zach said was entirely truthful to what he thought. "Zach, what... I..." He seemed to be at a loss for words, not sure what to say.

"Your voice is... it's truly incredible. Zach, there is a reason you are in this band, and that is because you are amazing. Your voice has such raw emotion and a hidden power to it. It's something that I don't think anyone else in this band has..."

"I don't think I can do it, Jay." The boy's large doe-like eyes looked up at his best friend, glossing over with tears.

"Don't think, just do it. I know you have it in you." Zach leaned into Jack even more, practically becoming one with him.

After a few minutes of sitting in silence, soft snores began to come from the smaller boy, looking at peace for the first time in weeks.

"I'm sorry, Z." Jack sighed, picking up Zach's insanely small form, carrying him back to their green room where Jon, the rest of the band, as well as three unknown boys, conversing quietly with Corbyn.

"How is he?" Jon's voice caused everyone to look at Jack as he placed Zach's sleeping form on the couch, Corbyn gently moving his head so he would be more comfortable.

"He's freaking out... Jon, I know you don't believe me when I say he can hit that note but he _can_. I know he can." Jack's voice was shaky and solemn, still ridden with the sick rasp.

"You've never heard him hit that note before, Jack. This is probably going to be the biggest performance of the night. He may be right! _We don't know_!"

"He can hit it." A voice from one of the unfamiliar men made Jack and Jon look over curiously, wondering where they had heard Zach sing like that. "He can do it."

\--- --- ---

**five minutes till showtime**

Zach took a deep breath and drank some water, shutting his eyes as he listened to the largest crowd so far scream their lungs out, excited for their favorite band to entertain them.

A tap on his shoulder made him whip around, relaxing when he saw it was only Pezzy.

"You're going to do amazing, Zach. Don't doubt yourself." He let out a shaky breath, hugging the taller man, surprising him. Pezzy reciprocated the hug, smiling softly. "Go."

Zach followed Jonah on stage, singing into the microphone.

"I've said those words before but it was a lie.And you deserve to hear them a thousand times."

The crowd made a confused noise when Daniel came out instead of Jack, singing the chorus. It was still hyped, just not confused.

When the song ended, Corbyn took the lead, being the best speaker out of everyone.

"How are y'all doing tonight, LA?" The crowd screeched in response, fangirling completely. "So, as you probably noticed, Jack isn't with us tonight. Unfortunately, he came down with something today and lost his voice. Despite this, he fought with Jon to make sure this show still happened tonight and you guys have the performance of a lifetime."

Jack walked onto the stage with a slight smile, waving to the crowd as they screamed. He spoke a raspy "Hi everyone," into the microphone, causing everyone to wince.

A chorus of "Feel better, Jack!" came from the crowd, making the entire band grin, loving their fans with all of their hearts. He made a little heart hand figure before running off stage, more screams coming from the crowd.

"You guys ready?"

\--- --- ---

It was the final dress change before Fallin' and Zach felt the feeling of panic beginning to overtake him again.

As he pulled on his gold and black jacket over his white tank top, exhaling deeply, a hair and dress crew member redid his makeup and hair quickly, making sure he looked his best.

"You alright, kid?" Jon's voice was hushed as he approached Zach, knowing he didn't want to attract attention to himself.

"I think so." Thinking about what Pezzy, Chromez, and Jack all said, he felt more at ease than before and was actually starting to believe in himself.

"Good. Your new friends seem to have a lot of faith in you." Zach smiled, knowing his friends believed in him more than he did himself. "Now go rock that stage."

The group of five made their way onto the stage, smiling softly as they reached their instruments, picking them up, or sitting down at them.

Jack decided to play his guitar during Fallin', wanting to contribute somehow. Zach zoned out for the first two sections of the song, too into his own head.

"Oh baby, I can't feel the rush of adrenaline..."

The song kept going, the crowd going wild as everyone sang, jumping up and down. Daniel kept going crazy on the drums, Jack hyping everyone up when he wasn't playing, getting around the stage.

The second chorus was going by much quicker than what Zach would've liked and he knew as soon as Daniel went to hit the high notes it was time.

"Ooh, you are my muse, I feel so reckless." The crowd went hushed, waiting for the drop and the high note, although they were confused that Zach was the one taking over for Jack.

"Oh, you're makin' me, makin' me,   
Makin' me, makin' me, makin' me,   
Makin' me, makin' me give in."

The drums had kicked back in and so did the crowd, giving Zach another boost.

"Oh, baby, I can feel the rush of adrenaline.  
I'm not scared to jump if you want to.  
Let's just fall in love for the hell of it."

The band sang together, Zach and Daniel switching around their vocals, giving a back and forth panning sound.

Zach made eye contact with Grizzy, Pezzy, and Tuxy, all sitting in the front row, cheering him on, giving the singer that one final boost of confidence he needed to hit his note.

"Maybe, we'll just keep fallin'!" Zach sang into the microphone, holding the note, eyes shut. He went into the falsetto notes and adlibs, not wanting to open his eyes, in fear that it was a dream.

The crowd went wild, screaming louder than they ever had before.

When the music went quiet, Zach placed a hand on his chest, over his heart, taking in a shaky breath, tears forming and a large smile on his face. Jack hugged him from behind tightly, proud of his best friend.

The rest of the concert went by like a blur and all of a sudden, they were back in the green room.

"You were incredible!" Pezzy gave Zach a hug, followed by Grizzy, Tuxy, and the rest of the band.

"Thank you..."


	16. 16

"All I'm tryna' say is don't change." Zach glanced at Corbyn while falling off the note, soaking in the music as the crowd screamed and cheered. The instrumentals slowly faded away, leaving the yells of the crowd and the pounding of his heart the only things he could hear.

The rush of adrenaline soared through his veins, giving him that boost for the last song of this mini-set.

Zach was currently wearing a white button-up shirt with black slacks, his hair with the slightest bit of gel in it, just to make it look less frizzy. He also had on a pair of thin wired circular glasses, deciding he didn't feel like putting his contacts in.

He ran his thin fingers through the dark locks, winking at the crowd, who only screamed louder. The music for Unbelievable started up and Daniel began singing, jumping forward towards the crowd.

Zach glanced down at his two friends in the crowd, smiling as he jokingly blew them a kiss. Wozenz pretended to dramatically faint in Simple's arms, the teen barely catching him in time.

The group had spent the entire day before the concert together, just exploring the UK and all the places to see.

Zach just laughed out of range of the mic, moving over towards the right side of the stage, touching a couple of fans' hands, kissing one daintily.

The band danced around the stage, interacting with fans and each other, coming together for the beat drops during the choruses. Soon enough, the second verse was being sung, and once more, Zach had begun to move to another side of the stage, close to where Wozenz and Simple sat.

"Yeah, never thought, never thought I'd be holding your hand.

Picking up, picking up, picking up my confidence.

When you're making those moves, ayy.

I don't know what to do, yeah."

Jack moved to the side of the stage, singing into the microphone, eyes shut. As the band split up, Zach walked towards where the stairs were on the side, leading down into the audience.

It was dark over where he was, causing him not to see where he was walking, which was a bit of a hazard when walking on a stage.

Zach was getting ready to join in on the chorus, beginning to move forward towards the center of the stage when he felt part of the stage sink from underneath him.

Out of nowhere, as he placed his foot down, his leg went straight through a rotting part of the wood and into the hollow area.

Zach's fist clenched his microphone with all his might as he tried not to scream. The little shards of wood had sliced through his pants and into his skin, burning like fire.

Tears pricked at his eyes as he tried to carefully pull his leg out of the hole, only to collapse onto the ground out of pain.

He knew it was getting close to his part as the chorus ended and a hand grabbed his shoulder, and a crouching figure appeared next to him through cloudy, tear-filled brown eyes.

Wozenz and Simple had climbed over the barrier blocking fans from climbing on stage, waving their Family/Friend badges as security attempted to stop them.

"Deep breaths, I'll get Jack to take your solo." Daniel "shouted" in his ear, only to have Zach shake his head in disagreement.

"No, I can do it." His voice was pained, causing Daniel to want to disagree, but seeing the emotion and need in the youngest's eyes changed his mind.

"Okay, Zay. Deep breaths. We're right here." The rest of the band had appeared by his side, comforting smiles as they sat on stage with Zach.

"Gotta check myself because I just can't believe..." The brunet's voice quivered with pain, eyes clenched shut as his knuckles turned white from clenching his microphone so hard.

The fans were cheering at the top of their lungs, trying to encourage the final band member.

Jonah gently grabbed the hand, carefully prying Zach's fingers off so he could loosen his grip.

"You got this." Zach's voice got stronger as he sang, although still strained and weakened.

"That you were in my heart, you were in my head. Now you're waking up here in my bed." The note wasn't as strong as Zach would've liked but at least his falsetto came about clean and pretty.

As the song ended and the lights dimmed, two medics came out onto the stage with flashlights, Jon trailing right behind them with a worried expression on his face.

Corbyn and Jack moved to create room for the medics, watching as they shone a light on Zach.

His leg had completely gone through the floor, the wood looking old and jagged. Zach's chest rose and fell shakily, clearly trying to keep calm and let go of the pain.

Wozenz had moved behind him, allowing the younger boy to lean against him, his shaking body pressed up against his chest, head rolled back on Wozenz's shoulder.

"Sir, we can administer Naproxen for the pain with your consent." Zach lightly shook his head at the medic, gaining confused looks from everyone but Jon, as he was in pain, why would he not want medication?

"He can't take most NSAIDs. He gets pretty severe allergic reactions." The medic nodded, pursing her lips.

"We're going to need to try and pull away the rest of this wood as carefully as possible to get Mr. Herron's leg free without any other complications." The male medic looked towards the boys, who all nodded in understanding. "Be careful of splinters. Pain in the ass to get out."

Carefully pushing and breaking the rotten floorboards, a hole large enough to allow Zach's leg to become free was created.

The fans were still in the background, quiet chatter filling the arena. A few of the bigger Instagram and Twitter accounts had posted on their accounts about the situation, as well as a couple of videos.

"Alright, Mr. Herron, on the count of three, we are going to pull you out of the hole, and I need you to work with us by doing your best to not move your knee or leg, okay?"

Once again, Zach nodded his confirmation at the question, bracing himself and tensing up. Corbyn and Daniel moved behind the smaller boy, both grabbing his underarms, getting ready to pull him out and onto the stretcher.

"One..." Jack grabbed his hand, squeezing it comfortingly, "two... three!"

Daniel and Corbyn lifted Zach out of the hole, being careful not to jostle his leg around too much, but to no avail.

Zach let out a strangled cry, sounding similar to a yelp and a sob, maybe something in between. His knee had involuntarily tried to straighten itself, causing shooting pains to fly up through his nerves, sending sparks into his back.

The brunet stumbled on his one good leg, trying to take deep breaths to compose himself as he felt himself being lowered onto a scratchy, strong material, most likely the stretcher.

From behind them, fans were letting out murmurs, quieting down as they tried to see what was happening on the stage with their favorite celebrities.

As he was being carried backstage, he said something to Jon that caused the man from letting the rest of his bandmates follow.

"Jon, let us through!" The manager let Wozenz and Simple through, but not the band.

"He asked you to continue the show, without him."

"No! He's a part of this band, and the fans will agree."

"But the record company won't. The longer you hold off, the more likely fans will ask for a refund. We've already had a delay. And you know that with the new album and how we didn't fit into their mold, they already aren't our biggest fan." There was silence as the parties glared at one another, waiting for the other to secede.

"He's right. We have to finish the show." Jonah's voice was quiet but commanding.

Jon gave the boys a small proud, but worried smile, squeezing Jack's shoulder. "He's gonna be okay, y'know. It's Zach. Nothing keeps the kid down for long."

\-- -- --

"Fuck!" Zach panted heavily, eyes squeezed shut as he almost broke Wozenz's hand from gripping it so tightly with his own.

The medic had just popped his patella back into place and he was getting ready to grab a knee brace so he could finish performing before heading to a clinic for x-rays. Lucky for him, Wozenz's dad was a doctor at a pediatric private clinic about an hour from the venue and agreed to come in to take an x-ray to make sure there was no other damage to his knee.

"I really do not recommend you go back on stage, even if you are just sitting down. You really should be going to the ER, Mr. Herron." The female medic began to secure the knee brace, pulling the velcro over the now cleaned cuts and bruises.

"With all due respect, ma'am, hell no. Those people out there made me who I am and I need to do this, for them and for me." Although his voice was still slightly pained, it was strong and passionate. There was no talking him out of this.

"Very well. At least use crutches or have someone help you out onto the stage, please." He nodded, chuckling slightly before looking at Simple and Wozenz.

"Wanna be my chariot?" The pair just rolled their eyes, helping the young brunet off the couch, standing him upright. Together, they got over to the edge of the stage, helping Zach up the stairs and onto the stage as the last song ended.

Corbyn noticed Zach in the shadows and jogged over, hopping down the stairs. "I'm gonna lift you, okay?"

Zach just nodded, an amused smile on his face as Corbyn grabbed his waist, moving him onto the stage carefully. Wozenz helped move the crutch under his armpits, the group quickly helping him get used to the movement.

As soon as he made his way back onto the stage, the fans went wild, screaming their heads off.

"Let's do this!"

\-- -- --

"I'd say it's just a bad dislocation. Stay on crutches for the next few days at least and make sure you don't put too much weight on it."

"Thank you, Mr. Robinson." Zach shook the man's hand, allowing Jon to help him off the patient's table and onto his crutches.

"Any friend of my son's is a friend of mine." The man had a warm smile on his face as he let go of Zach's hand, shaking Jon's also.

"You got it?" Jon murmured at the shorter boy, watching as he adjusted himself carefully on the crutches, attempting to find himself balance.

Zach bit his lip and nodded, although still unsure if he would be able to make it back into the waiting room where everyone else was without falling flat on his face.

"I got you if you fall." Zach slowly began to move forward, tripping immediately, but thankfully managed to catch himself before he hit the ground.

He took another few steps forward, slowly getting used to the feeling of not using the leg that was currently in a brace, carefully protected from injuring it even more.

"I think I got it now..." Zach managed to make his way into the waiting room, blushing slightly as all the eyes of his friends and bandmates turned to him.

"Just a bad dislocation apparently." The brunette had on a shy smile, half staring at the ground.

"That looked like it fucking hurt, Zeph." Wozenz commented quietly, staring at Zach, still concerned for his friend's wellbeing.

"I'm alright, Woz. It hurt but I'm okay in the long run. Just got to make sure I'm careful for a little bit. Thankfully we have a bit of break before our next show so I can rest."

Wozenz didn't look too comforted, but he kept quiet, knowing Zach was a stubborn fucker and wouldn't change his mind.

The group got ready to part ways: the band making their way to Poland, Wozenz back to Denmark, and Nathan and his dad back home.

"Until Boston 2022. Until then."


End file.
